Monday 27 August 2012

Being poor sucks!

I know, I know, nothing like stating the bleedingly obvious.  It's true though.  It does.  Not in obvious ways, either.  I mean, yes, being able to afford to go on holiday would be nice (duh) but it's the little things that are really the bummer.  Like whether we can afford kitchen towels or not (for a long time we couldn't - even now they are doled out like precious gems) or being able to afford fruit.  I love the stuff (avocados excepted..don't see the point) but if you were to give me a choice between, say, mango & pineapple or chocolate I'd chose the former which is pretty astounding since I adore chocolate.  Unfortunately chocolate is a damn sight cheaper than fruit (although not by much and we can't afford chocolate anyway, but you get the idea). A pound of grapes or a Snickers bar?  Grapes win every time.  Or would.

My mother is in hospital.  Nothing serious (as in nothing actually wrong regarding being ill) but she can't walk.  Can't stand, either.  Her hip bones have finally told the rest of her body that they're on their own.  The hip bones have had enough, which is understandable. They're getting on a bit.  She's been in for a while whilst they try to work out a schedule of carers (they will need to use a two-person hoist and she's incontinent...just the sort of bundle of laughs that makes you think you really don't want to be old) but tomorrow she is released.  Discharged.  Kicked out.  However you want to put it.  Up until now I've been able to see her on a regular basis but this will change since we live about eight miles away (maybe more, maybe less - there comes a time when it doesn't really matter) and - it's embarrassing to even think about it - I can't afford the bus fare.  Yup.  You heard it here, folks.  We can't afford the £3.40 return it would cost to go to see my mother.  Now isn't that a total bummer?  Forget these people who are bemoaning the fact that they can't afford the latest bag or can 'only' manage one foreign holiday a year but this takes not having money to a whole new dimension.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.  By this age - not, I have to admit, that I ever gave any consideration to being in my forties.  Or at least, I gave it as much consideration as I did being in my fifties.  Or sixties.  As in, none whatsoever - things are supposed to be reasonably settled.  You know, have a home that's more yours than the bank's; spouse and brat or two; secure.  Comfortable.  Having been able to tick some things off one's bucket list.  Instead I find myself here: renting a house, counting every penny half-a-dozen times and wearing cast off shoes and clothes.  I know I used to tell the kids that life wasn't fair but this is taking things a tad too far.

As I've said before, Mark believes in karma. I don't.  Sorry, but.  It seems to me that bad things happen to good people all the damn time whilst - even more unfairly - the reverse is also the case.  Even if we dispense with the idea that I'm a good person (I am.  Trust me.  Would I lie to you??) I've known some sorry SOBs in my time and where are they?  At the top of the pile.  So, no.  Karma is a nice idea, just like world peace.  But that's all it is.  An idea.  Rather like the Christian, 'the meek shall inherit the earth.'  It's a sop for those poor saps who do try to be decent human beings.  You may be trodden on in this life but, don't worry, you'll get the reward after you're dead.  Has it ever occurred to anyone that I wouldn't mind the rewards now?  In this life?  Just in case the afterlife isn't.  I've heard of deferred gratification but this is taking it far too far.  

Isn't it rather sad when even Fate says, 'the cheque is in the post'?

Friday 24 August 2012

A Tale of Two Cop-Outs

In January 2010 we bought a television from Tesco.  It cost us £300 and, although it might not be a great deal of money for some, for us it was (is) huge.  I used the money given to me by my Mother and aunt for Christmas and we scraped together the rest, working on the principle that we don't get out much.  No, seriously.  We don't.   We pay our rent, pay our bills and with what is left over we buy food.  With a bit of fiddling I can occasionally stretch to buying Flavia school shoes (bottom end of market...apparently they aren't to be worn in the rain but that's another story) so we decided to treat ourselves since it is, apart from the computer, the only form of entertainment we have.

You can imagine our dismay when, 19 months after purchase, it died.  We contacted Tesco (who tried to wriggle but Yours Truly knows about the Sale of Goods Act - I'm awkward like that) and they sent us a form to fill in (second class, of course) and just over two weeks later we got a letter from them saying they'd refund us £180.  Which rather tells me that they didn't expect the television to last very long.  Now, I'm sorry to rain on their parade, but I do.  My Mother had to dispose of her television when digital came along but it was going fine and it had been doing so for forty years.  Forty years!  My God, it should be in a museum.  Or immortalised.  A monument to Ferguson.  I know they say manufacturers install a variant of the kill switch to ensure things don't last a long time but personally I think 19 months is too little.  I also think £180 is too little.  We certainly can't replace the television with that - or at least we can, but not the size screen and not a built in DVD player (although I don't mind too much about the latter...I wasn't sure at the time.  On the one hand it's a couple of wires less - thank heaven - on the other, well, if the DVD player part wants to play silly b's then we have a problem.  As it is both the television part AND the DVD part went into touch but there we go).

So it would appear I'll be going to the small claims court to try to sort this out.  Am I crazy?  Should one expect electrical items to give up the metaphorical ghost in just over 1 1/2 years?  Or am I too old fashioned?  Presumably a Judge will help me find out.

The other cop-out is the CSA.  The little darlings. Don't you just love them?  Personally I find they make me go all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

You see (and stop me if I've said this before...the Sarc does make me forget things - just not the things I want to forget), my ex-husband doesn't pay child support.  He has the CSA exactly where he wants them and they let him get away with it.   In the current instalment he's been working since 3 February but have we seen any child support?  It is, of course, everyone's fault except theirs.  His.  His employer.  The post.  I've - well, I won't say I nag them, that's wrong, but no-one could say I have been sitting back and letting them do whatever they want.  I have been on their case.  Oh boy, have I been on their case (they'd probably say, 'on and on and on,' but I won't).

After 26 weeks (yes, I said 26) I finally decided I'd had enough and filed a lawsuit against them.  It took the Court 3 weeks to process it (all money claims have to go to Stratford now so the back log is enormous...2,000 new cases a day apparently).  Then, miraculously, on Wednesday I had a telephone call from them.  Wow.  Shock.  Awe.  I don't hear from them for almost two months then suddenly, wallop, they call.  Not only that but they tell me they have FINALLY made the calculations.  Only took them seven months.  The elephant in the room, of course, was the litigation.  They didn't mention it.  I didn't mention it.  I found it amusing but I suspect Roger (the chap on the other end of the line) didn't.  No sense of humour some people.

Now, today, I receive a letter from the Court saying the CSA want to dismiss the case because I have no grounds.  Hmmmm.  Yeah.  Right. They dropped the ball, didn't fulfil their duty of care towards my daughter and let Daddy Darling get away with financial murder.  He goes on foreign holidays, the cinema every week, eats out...generally a rather nice life.  His daughter, meanwhile, gets her clothes from charity shops, doesn't see the inside of a cinema from one year to the next and is going without a sixteenth birthday party because we don't have any money.

I have no idea as to what is going to happen with either case.  Obviously (duh) I'd like us to win both but if I was in the business of getting what I wanted I'd be comfortably off, people would buy my books and I'd own a house that bore more than a passing resemblance to that occupied by the Addam's Family (but with an orchard rather than a cemetery in the back garden).  Instead I rent a house and hope like hell the landlord doesn't decide to change his mind/sell/demolish/whatever.  Oh, and no-one buys my books.  Which is very annoying because I've read far worse and they don't exactly cost an arm and a leg.  In fact, they don't even cost a fingernail.  Maybe, if I priced them for a vast sum people would buy them.  Rather like some art work that shall go un-named but which is tat yet sells for obscene amounts of 0s.  The world is a strange place.  And people are downright scary.

I had planned, if we'd won the £148,000,000 (I know I could have just written £48 million but then I wouldn't have had the satisfaction and awe of seeing all those 0s), to buy an island somewhere and hide from people.  Nothing too big or fancy.  Australia or somewhere like that.

Ah, well.  We didn't.  Didn't win a farthing (which would have been difficult anyway since they don't make them any more).  Back to Plan B.  Or are we on to Z yet?  I wouldn't be surprised.  Any suggestions on a postcard, please.  Or call the A Team.  Whichever is easier.

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Tuesday 21 August 2012

Well, that was fun!

I am officially cream-crackered.  Absolutely, totally, no-doubt-about it whacked.  What's more, it's all my husband's fault.  I put the blame firmly on Mark. No ifs, ands or buts.  Not only that, but if he has any sense he'll agree with me.  

You know the way you have an afternoon all planned?  That was me yesterday.   A little gentle pottering followed by a quiet family evening and an early night. Especially the early night since sleeping is not my forte. I used to be good at it; but then I used to be good at a lot of things.  Why it is a problem is a bit of a mystery since I take so many meds I should spend my whole life virtually catatonic but it would appear I'm made of sterner stuff.  Or something.

Anyway, back to my pottering. Nothing major league, just saying hello to a few old friends in the clothing stakes when Mark comes back from the doctor. He'd had some blood taken a couple of weeks earlier to check on how his diabetes, cholesterol & blood pressure were doing.  Routine. My main concern was that he'd be kept waiting (the previous week I'd had to hang around for 45 minutes which was rather boring, especially since surgeries no longer have stacks of those magazines no-one admits to buying but we all can't resist reading...it's the possibility of germs, apparently).  I digress.  In wanders the Man and tells me (nonchalantly, of course)  that the doc wants me to take him somewhere. Initially I didn't understand him - due partially to his Texas accent trying to wrap itself around the Ll in Llandock.  As in, 'Llandock Hospital.'  As in, 'the doctor wants you to take me to-'.  'When?'  'Now.'

You'll be glad to know I didn't panic.  Even when he said she'd done (or whatever it is) an ECG on him, gone white and pointed him in the general direction of the door with the aforementioned instruction.  My first job was to bum some money off Flavia (we don't have our own transport, instead we're dependent upon the bus.  Isn't it a good thing I've gone to Llandock so often myself I know not only where to catch the bus - the 95, in case you're wondering - but also the times to and from).  And, of course, they only accept the exact money.  Which we didn't have.  Bang went Flavia's £10.00 (with the promise she'd get it back today at the latest).

So, by five o'clock we're sitting in the waiting room at the Assessment Unit in Llandock Hospital.  Have you noticed how chairs in hospitals are always uncomfortable?  In the same way I have a theory that bus companies purposely ruin the shock absorbers on each bus before putting it into service, I am convinced hospitals are determined never to possess a comfortable chair.  Not for patients, anyway.  If you're going to litter the place then you're not going to enjoy the experience.  So we deposit ourselves on a couple of the sit-up-and-beg chairs and wait.  And wait.  Then (just for fun) we waited some more.  I was going to say that Mark is a bit antsy about hospitals but then, who isn't?  Or, if someone isn't then there's something mighty peculiar going on in their cranium.  I'm more resigned - I think it's a female thing - but Mark isn't of that ilk.

They took him off to take blood from him (5 vials!  Blood suckers) and another ECG but in the interim we waited.  Along with other patients and their acolytes.  There were periods of brief amusement, such as when a cleric informed someone on his mobile that he'd thought a patient in one of the treatment rooms was his friend but then found she was sitting just behind him (the humour being the person in the treatment room was an obese old man...if I'd been the friend I would have punched him) but otherwise it was unmitigated boredom.  Within two hours I could quote the Beeb's coverage of Tony Scott's suicide as well as the changing weather reports.  I even accepted a cup of tea. Now for me, that's a big deal. I don't do tea. I regard it as an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. However, there was method in my betrayal - if I was going to be faced with a hot, dark brown liquid then I preferred it to be something I knew I didn't like rather than a bastardized cousin of something I do like that was given to me merely as a form of highly exquisite torture.  That was my logic, anyway.  It didn't make the tea taste any nicer, though.

To cut a very long, dreary story short by ten o'clock we were given the delightful news that they wanted to keep Mark in overnight so that they could run some more tests this morning.  The only fly in the ointment was that there were no beds. Instead we were offered a couple of beaten up recliners in a room that for unrelenting brightness would make the Gestapo salivate.  Ve haf Vays of giving you a heart attack.  Presumably they reasoned that if dumping us there for 6-7 hours didn't bring something on then he must be okay.  There we were left with the units' stack of spare blankets for company.  I couldn't really get home even if I'd wanted to since the buses had stopped running just after eight and who can afford a taxi?

My darling daughter took the news with equanimity: I did know she didn't like being in the house all alone, didn't I? (guilt trip time.  Of course, as I'm sure you've guessed we live in a big, old mansion surrounded by creepy woods and miles from anywhere.  ie There's a Tesco Express just around the corner and so many takeaways I'd need to borrow someone else's fingers and toes just to try to keep a running tally).  Then I had the wondrous text: My computer isn't working. What's wrong with it?  Now, I know mothers are good (some of us are damn good) but even I, in all my amazing capabilities cannot deduce the cause of a computer crashing from four miles away.  Actually, I can't do it if it is sulking in front of me, but that's besides the point.  I suppose it was worth a try, though. 

Mark slept - if you can call it sleeping.  Probably had something to do with his not having eaten during the day or taken his evening medications - I mean, we'd be home in a couple of hours, wouldn't we?  Hah.  Of course, I didn't have my meds either (duh) but then I don't fall into a state of suspended animation if I neither eat nor keep dosed up.  I also stayed awake all night.  At five I wandered out into the dark and fresh air to check the bus times since they were planning on taking more blood at six and - well, I wouldn't say I was desperate to leave but I'd been fantasising about it for hours (Mark had been fantasising about Kentucky Fried Chicken up until midnight) whilst the desire for something luxurious like a bunch of grapes stopped me from going totally cuckoo.  Instead I stayed at vaguely cuckoo.

Having informed Mark that it may well be a form of angina and that further tests would be required (out, not in) we managed to escape by ten o'clock, with me texting Flavia to let her know we were  1.  Still alright  and 2.  She could now unlock and unbolt the front door (it was her first time left alone...although, as I pointed out, she had two manic dogs, a domineering guinea pig and a cat with delusions of world domination on her side...nobody would dare try to go past any of them).

So.  Mark may well have angina (to go with the rest) and he DID have a heart attack about 20-years ago.  I'm not quite sure whether he's pleased to find out he was right all those years ago or disappointed to find out he was right all those years ago.  If you see what I mean.

I now know I can go 40 hours with only one of them having any relation however tenuous to sleep.  I also now know that Mark's idea of a suitable location for a date night sucks.  Rather a shame, really, to think that the first time we've spent a night together away from the house and family and it's in an impersonal, faceless, utterly boring and airless room on two highly uncomfortable chairs with another patient as chaperone (he purred in his sleep.  Mark snored...I found myself automatically giving him my usual little nudges.  At least he didn't talk - and when Mark talks in his sleep, Mark talks in his sleep.  In English. In Sioux.  It's great fun).  I did have a surge of brilliance, however.  I remembered I had a pair of (clean) socks in my bag and used them as a makeshift eye mask.  I probably looked ridiculous, but then the whole situation was and by that stage I was so past caring I could have waved at it from a distant shore.

The journey home was as packed as the outward one but at least we were going home and we knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that the hot liquids awaiting us would be drinkable.  Also that the pulled beef prepared for Monday night was well and truly cooked.

I really hope Mark chooses a better place for our next date - something with a bit more ambiance would be nice.  Actually, somewhere with any ambiance would be nice.  And no white walls or strip lights.

I have a very strong suspicion Prince Phillip got a bed when he was in hospital.  I could suggest favouritism but I won't.  I'll just think it.

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Sunday 19 August 2012

Arghhh (or words to that effect)

Why are some people so blitheringly useless?  Or selfish.  Or both.  Maybe the very fact that one is selfish means that one is also useless since one only does things for oneself.  Either way, it sucks.

Let me explain the situation: I have a daughter.  Sixteen in less than four weeks.  Her father and I were married for almost 18 years. He was - unpleasant, shall we say - and we finally divorced when Flavia was seven.  Since then we've been to Court three times ostensibly for residency but in reality because he likes the power kick. The last time was instigated by Flavia herself because she was tired of being continually reprimanded, hearing him bad-mouth myself and my husband all the time and generally being treated as a whipping boy.  They had no contact for 2 years (primarily because he didn't see he had anything to apologise for...although he did kindly say he forgave her...I'm not sure what for).

Since Flavia was eleven Daddy hasn't done much.  He has been fired from two jobs (apparently I say horrible things about him to the Head - as if I could be bothered, even if I were so inclined) and went to stay with a friend for a few weeks in December 2009.  He's still there.  Poor Howard - he'll never get rid of him. No rent, no council tax, little in the way of bills...trust me, he's there to stay.

Daddy is also ridiculously poor.  Yes, he has a car. Yes, he goes on foreign holidays and tootles about Southern Britain with gay abandon and yes, he goes to the cinema at least once a week and buys clothes from gentlemen's outfitters.  But he's poor.  I know that because he can't possibly afford to pay child support.  Right now his contribution to his daughter's upkeep is around £1.50/day and falling. The CSA are worse than useless and, although they don't know it yet, I'm suing them.  I'm just waiting for the Court system to catch up on the paperwork.

Simon is desperately keen for Flavia to go to Oxbridge. He wants her to be a barrister (she doesn't, but when has that got anything to do with it?)  Years ago I wanted her to take an entrance exam for a local independent school but he wouldn't pay half the fee (£25.00); so she's gone to the local comprehensive.  Since he's not paying child support I thought he may like to help pay for her to go to the best sixth form college in the country - which just happens to be half an hour from here - but no, he's sure she'll do just fine at her present school even though the results are less than half as good.  What about helping with extra-curricular activities? Universities are very keen on them. So was he - until he realized he'd have to put his hand in his pocket. Then he decided that she would get into University quite well without 'interests/hobbies'.

Now he tells her that it is possible he may be able to help her financially in three years.  It makes my insides go all warm and snuggly.  Wow.  Possible.  May.  Gosh, don't hold back, will you?

All this is because he wants to keep any money he gets for himself. He is, apparently, reading for an M.Phil or some such which is great - but we've had our opportunities and now it is her turn.  Although it isn't.  Because, as usual, he is putting himself first.  If I had oodles of cash, if I could afford to give her these things then I wouldn't give a damn ( in fact I'd probably cheer because he couldn't put conditions on his 'help') but I can't. I have Sarc. I have FMS. I spend most days feeling pretty lousy, actually but there we go. I deal with it. I juggle finances and borrow from Peter to pay Paul (then vice versa) in the hopes that I can provide enough food for us, that we have electricity and gas and that when Flavia needs a pair of shoes I can pull a rabbit out of a hat and provide them.  They may be cheap, they may not be made to be worn in the rain but at least they are something to put on her feet.

It comes as a sad fact when one wants to apologise to one's child for providing them with such a useless person as a parent. And it is even sadder to know he doesn't even realize he's doing anything wrong or that he's damaging his relationship with his daughter. And that's probably the most pathetic thing I could say.

Friday 17 August 2012

A Fruitless Day (I think I'll go back to bed)...

It may not be Friday 13 (hasty check of diary...yep, I'm right) but it is beginning to feel like it.

Last night I had a bad migraine..not one from Hell (with those I end up in hospital) but definitely one of the ugh, who hit me and why sort.  I dosed up and went to bed early (ie even earlier than normal!!)

Unfortunately it decided to hang around for a while (anyone out there thinking I'm not a barrel of laughs well obviously you're wrong.  If I don't scintillate how come migraines don't scarper as soon as they arrive??)  Not helped, of course, by someone 'phoning at 8 o'clock.  Normally it isn't a problem but it would happen when I'm feeling not too flushed, the dogs are getting in the way and Millie has taken up temporary residence on the third step from the top; that cat can be cussed.  Naturally the nameless person hung up just as I got there and (equally naturally) the caller with-held their number.  I was a Happy Bunny.

With my feeling less than my normal chipper self and the rain giving a very good impression of getting ready for the next Flood I decided to cop out of going to see my mother in hospital.  Honestly? She won't remember whether I was there or not but considering how I was feeling I thought it would be better if I stayed holed up in the house all day, if not in bed.

That being the case, I decided (in my foolishness) to try to do something on my Amazon Author Central page.  It sounded so easy...link your blog & Twitter accounts to the author page.  Just the sort of thing to do when one's brain is suffering even more freeze than normal (I blame it on the Sarc).  Could I do it?  Could I hell!

What is a RSS?  And where do I find one?  Could I spot the 'universal RSS logo'?   Nup.  Looked high, low and sideways.  Got Mark and Flavia in the act too.  We tried every possible combination of letters, numbers and weird signs; Mark even looked at the coding (or something) but still nada.  Nothing.  No such luck.  I have wasted some four hours of my life on this and all that's happened is that my persecution complex has increased.  No, really.  Someone, somewhere doesn't like me.  I know.  

I try to be nice to computers.  I speak soft words of encouragement (intermingled with a few choice epithets but hopefully they don't notice), I try to be patient, I appreciate I have no interest in the internal workings of the d*** things.  In return I expect consideration. In other words, I don't need a hissy fit from an inanimate heap of wires, metal things, plastic bits and junk.  

If anyone has any ideas (apart from going back to slate and chalk) or can, in plain, simple English (ideally words of one syllable or less) explain how I find the RSS and how I link it up with Amazon I will be very grateful.  In the meantime I'm going to hit the painkillers again.  And pretend I haven't been bested by a heap of circuits and a keyboard.

Living, Writing, Dreaming and getting older (if not wiser): Respect my A***

Living, Writing, Dreaming and getting older (if not wiser)

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Bucket Lists

I've never really been the sort to write lists.  Actually, that's not true. I write shopping lists. Then forget to take them with me (now I cheat and use my mobile 'phone, although then I have the problem of actually trying to read what's on the little screen. But, hey, at least I have the list with me even though I can't actually refer to it).

When I was 18 I felt a strong urge to better myself and made a list of authors I needed to explore and things I'd like to learn. I actually did some of them, too.  I learn the flute - not to any great degree but I could puff out a tune - and I read some of my 'improving' books.  Unfortunately I didn't do too well.  Madame Bovary was, to my mind, a right little one and Anna Karenina, far from being caught up in some doomed love was a bit of a bitch.  My sympathy lay solely with Vronsky.  I did read a few Thackeray but have to admit I have never read the last hundred pages of War and Peace (although I've read the body of the book at least twice, so maybe I get a little kudos for that at any rate).  And I did discover Anthony Trollope who joined Jane Austen as a favoured writer.

I'm fairly certain there were languages on that list as well although it is an awfully long time ago so I can't be certain. I've certainly tried to learn languages: Welsh (obligatory) and French in School.  Greek, Hebrew and Medieval Latin in University. On my own I've tried German and Russian but I concluded (long before Lord Robert Winston) that if one can have an aptitude for languages one can have the reverse.  I am linguistically disabled.  It's very sad.

One of the reasons I left my first husband was because I realized I was almost 40 and hadn't achieved any of the things I wanted to. Which, I know, sounds terribly selfish but true. I could envisage me on my death bed mourning the wasted life.  Unfortunately one can't respawn and even if there is such a thing as reincarnation then since one doesn't have a memory of the previous life then any lessons go unlearnt and dreams unremembered.

In the last 9 years I can't say I've achieved any of them, although my soul is more at peace. I've gradually accepted that they will remain undone, unreachable, but I refuse to put them onto Flavia. She has, and will have, her own dreams; she certainly doesn't need to be encumbered with mine.  For posterity, however, I'm going to list them - or at least some of them. I'm not sure even I can remember them all.

1.   Security. A home of my own rather than living in temporary accommodation.

2.   To see the stars without light pollution. To be able to gaze up and marvel.

3.  To see lions, giraffe, tigers and the animals of Africa (large place, I know) in their natural habitat.

4.   To visit Machu Pichu

5.   To see beavers and otters.

6.   To see hummingbirds and kingfishers. To watch a lyre bird dance.

7.   To see the giant redwoods.

8.  To watch the Aurora Borealis above my head.

9.   To go to the Galapagos Islands

10.  To go out dancing.

11.  To wear a pretty, impractical dress.

12.  To hear and see wolves (from safety, of course).  Ditto bears.

13.  To visit Uluru

14.  To ride a horse.

15.  To be able to sit in a vast wood, watch the birds and listen to the wind rustle the leaves of the trees

16.  To try a real bobsled.

17.  To know what it's like to not worry about money every single day.

18.  To sit on a porch swing at twilight.

19.  To grow old disgracefully

20.  To feel attractive.

21.  To see dolphins, seahorses and puffins in their natural habitat.  Oh, and whales.

22.  To see living coral rather than the dead, dried stuff one can buy


Too much?  Too little?  Who cares?  It's mine.

I just hope Flavia gets to fulfil at least half of hers.

Sunday 12 August 2012

The Ironing Board Monster

I don't know about anyone else, but we have one in our house.  Old, a bit battered and rather clattery (it's made of metal so makes very impressive sounds, especially since the joints have seen better days...actually it reminds me a bit of me!)  It is, however, serviceable.  I got it in Eastbourne just after Mark and I married.  There was a charity there who sold second-hand furniture at ridiculous prices to those of us who were impossibly poor and that's where I found our ironing board.  It cost us a pound and I'm not sure which seemed crazier to me - the price or the look of wistful desire I was aware crossed my face when I saw it.  I still feel embarrassed by it.  There are a lot of things a woman could or should look at with desire but I'm sure an ironing board is not amongst them.

 We have two dogs (actually, we have two dogs, a one-eyed cat and a very imperious guinea pig but there we go). Both are Border Collies.  Murphy (who is three) was bought when we hoped to be able to rent a smallholding in West Wales but we were conned and so returned to Cardiff poorer but with a huge amount of seeds and a dog.  Misty is one.  The idea was to give Murphy someone to be around since he loves playing with other dogs so much but he's ultra-submissive and she- well, she isn't.  I do feel sorry for him, and guilty at buying Misty even though our intentions were good.  Honest.

Misty is incorrigible. Reprimands bounce off her, as do scowls, growls and snarls. Her default is to put her ears back (they are ridiculously big), pick up a plastic ring and cock her head on one side. I can see her saying, 'look; I'm cute.'  Unfortunately (for me) it works all too often. She is confident in her belief that everyone loves her, she can do no wrong and the cat (Millie) is itching to play with her. She's wrong, but you have to admire her confidence.

In fact the ONLY thing that can disturb Misty's equilibrium is the aforementioned ironing board monster. There's something about it that really rattles her. One just has to touch it - and I mean touch. Not start to pick up, not rattle. Literally stretch out a finger.  Poof - she's gone. Out of the house, around the side and cowering by the side gate. Nothing you say or do will get her to move until she is positive the Thing is back in its lair.  

Mind you, Misty isn't the only one scared of the thing.  Since I brought forth the edict that everyone is responsible for their own ironing, Flavia has decided her clothes don't need to be touched whilst Mark...well put it this way. Have you ever bought bags in CostCo?  You know the sort to put shopping in.  Huge, unwieldy things?  Currently he has two of those filled with things waiting to be ironed - which is pretty good going considering he spent about three hours last week ironing.  That's what happens when you like your clothes (including jeans) ironed. I try to be sneaky and get away with wearing clothes that don't need ironing. It doesn't necessarily work very well but at least I try.

I'm waiting for Mark to suggest we try naturism - although considering our weather I don't think he'd last for long!

Thursday 9 August 2012

The gulls, the gulls!

If anyone ever has the temerity to tell me that gulls are not nocturnal animals I - well, I won't give them a kick where it hurts but I'll want to.  There's a huge - nest? settlement? colony? army? - of the darling little critters on the other side of the river and, damn, but they make a racket.  Scream and squawk and generally act as though the world is coming to an end.  Always in the early hours. By ten o'clock this morning they were as quiet as you could wish.  Obviously tired themselves out.  If we had to have a large mass of wildstock living opposite us couldn't it have been bats?  You know, something cute, cuddly and QUIET.

Mind you, they're intelligent birds.  My husband, Mark (aka Hubs), didn't believe me when I told him those responsible for ripping open rubbish bags were the seagulls.  He had his mind set on dogs, but nup.  I'm clever.  I know these things.  You just need to look at their beaks and you know they can gut a green bag in nanoseconds.  Not only that, but they know when it's rubbish day.  I kid you not.  They wait.  They line up on the roof of the cars on the other side of the road.  Waiting.  Watching.

We have a cat (Millie.  Black.  One eye. Thinks she's tough but is a great big softy really).  She has the dogs right where she wants them but the seagulls bully her.  I've caught them standing on the gateposts watching her.  Poor old Mills, it really messes with her image.  I haven't told the dogs, though.  It wouldn't be fair to tell her secret.  Anyway she'd punish me.

But, yes, the gulls were making their racket last night. Mark actually had his head rammed under his pillow but I could still hear his despairing muttering of, 'Oh gulls.'    I have to admit my feelings towards them have undergone a change.  I used to like the sound - you know how the cry of gulls makes you think of the seaside and watching the waves come in?  Positive feelings.  Now, having been deposited on (not to mention Flavia, my daughter, being pissed on...I kid you not) and having them screaming all night, well now I wouldn't really mind if I never heard one again.

I wonder what seagull tastes like........?????

http://www.gofundme.com/American-Dream-Fund

https://twitter.com/FreyaFlu

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_7?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=freya+fluharty&sprefix=freya+f%2Caps%2C168

Sunday 5 August 2012

Respect my A***

Don't you just love people?  Their kindness, courtesy, consideration?  Mind you, there are some out there where I'd be tempted to give them a dictionary but I suspect they wouldn't know what to do with it.  Apart from use it as a doorstop.  Or a missile.

We live in Cardiff, Wales.  The city has things wrong with it (people, for a start), but generally speaking the city fathers done good.  Yes, the latest additions could be anywhere in the world, but we do have some very nice 19C and 20C architecture, the plumbing is generally okay and - best of all - we have parks.  Everywhere you go in the city (especially the older parts) there are little - or not so little - parks.  Well kept, too. There are also little trails you can follow off the beaten track. Not in the parks, just winding their way past the backs of houses, following little streams (cricks for the Americans out there).  My mother lives about 9-10 miles away - the other side of the city, anyway - and I'd say 2/3 of the walk would be not on the streets.  If that isn't good then what is??

We are blessed by living on the Taff Trail, an amazing route that follows the river Taff from the sea right up to Brecon - thirty-odd miles. We're at the southern end.  Grangetown, in Cardiff.  Has seen better days and, according to various neighbours there are drug users and prostitutes plying their business around us but, as Tevye says, 'we don't bother them and, so far, they don't bother us.'

I like it here. I like it on still nights when I can hear the clock at either the city hall or Cardiff castle strike.  I like hearing the wind in the trees and the birds chirruping.  Personally I'm not too keen on the seagulls (anyone who says they're asleep at night is lying.  They're nocturnal.  Trust me, I know) and it's a shame people can't pick up their rubbish (I've actually seen a dog walker collect her dog's faeces in a bag then throw it in the river.  Weird) but I try to be tolerant.  No, really.

Unfortunately, since the trail is also the fastest means to get into Cardiff for a large number of people we also get individuals who should really not be let out without a gag.  Last night was a case in point.  Two groups of people.  First one around 2-3 in the morning.  Female (young, going by the voice) walking along slowly (speed up dear.  Please), sounding off.  If only she'd walked as enthusiastically as she shouted.  I gather her parents made every attempt with her education.  She certainly used f*** in numerous and interesting ways.  Maybe I should have taken notes.

An hour or so later another, equally as considerate neighbour.  I rather got the impression he was seeking a gentleman by the name of Andrew.  Could be wrong, but the single bellow of, 'An-DREW,' repeated every three seconds rather makes me suspect I'm not.  After ten-twelve attempts  there came a, 'Yo,' from the distance but our hero wasn't the sort to take success for granted.  Nup.  He made sure he had the right Andrew (after all there are many of them out there, wandering the Trail at 4 in the morning) by continuing to demand assurances.

I know I could, maybe should, have got up and told him to go somewhere else - warm with a hint of sulphur but I'm afraid confrontation and I aren't good together.  He was probably bigger than me, definitely younger and whereas I have qualms about hurting peoples' feelings (let alone actually putting a finger on them) I rather got the impression that this wouldn't be something he'd worry too much about.  So I did what I always did and fumed from the comfort of my bed.  Doubtless if I had called either the young woman or man on their conduct I would have been in receipt of an earful where their demand for 'respect' would have been paramount. That and exactly what I could do with myself in physical impossibilities.

I'm tired of people demanding my respect. I think it's time they start giving it.


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Ditto

I always have.  Or at least for as long as I can remember.  Maybe it had something to do with being married to a sociopathic clergyman but Sundays are always a dire time.  If I'm going to crack on a diet, it'll be on a Sunday.  Weird.  It used to be the day I did the ironing; you know, ready for the week ahead.  Mind you, I'm cheating now and letting everyone do their own so that chore is out of the way.  Still don't like the day, though.  I suppose if we had spare cash and could do things I might like the day but we don't so...we don't.  


I think I've gone a bit doo-lally in the last twenty-four hours.  I have actually posted on cyberbegging sites.  I didn't even know they existed until I read something about them and just thought, why not?  Tried everything else, or so it seems.  So I've done it.  Hate asking, hate begging (ah, pride, it's a wonderful thing) but there we go. Nothing else is working.  Just for the hell of it I'll post a link, although since I can't see how anyone will find this blog then it follows that the cyberbegging page will be equally as lost in the vastness that is the Internet.  


 ww.gofundme.com/American-Dream-Fund


There we go.  


I know things aren't as bad as they could be - heavens we've been there already.  Counting each penny half a dozen times, only having a meal a day, not being able to buy even charity shop clothes let alone things that are actually new, but sometimes I get so tired of fighting.  


Mark, my husband, believes in karma.  I don't.  Sorry, but.  He's a decent, sweet man who's had some very hard knocks, I was married to my ex-husband (should be reason enough there to get some sort of gong, let alone a break). Always done my best, never tried to cheat, steal or lie (lousy at the latter anyway.  Not enough practice).  Damn, I'm even the sort of person who tries not to step on ants!  I mean, can I be any drippier?  So I haven't saved the world (cape in wash) and I know most definitely that peace will not be in our time but I don't try to screw people over either. Yet, here we are.  Worrying about money, not having a life - this is as close as we get - getting older and dreams fading.  Grrrr.


I mean, is there really something so terrible in wanting to find a corner of the US where we can live, grow a few things, cultivate mild eccentricities and try to make a living?  There must be because no matter what we do nothing works.  Such a bummer.  I'd sulk, but what would that achieve?


My ex, Simon, is up to something.  Don't know what but there is something.  Mind you, he's always up to something.  A regular schemer.  Saw Flavia (daughter.  Almost 16.  Not quite your typical teenager although she has her stroppy moments) yesterday and gave her toiletries that he's been holding onto since she last went to see him (2+ years ago).  Half used soaps, bin-able toothbrushes, things like that. Maybe Howard (his friend) has got tired of him leaching off him; I mean, he went to live at Howard's for a few weeks and stayed three years and counting.  Poor Howard.  So, either he's going back to East Sussex (he loves it there.  Natural home.  He loathes Wales, something I don't understand but there we go) or maybe he has actually got a job somewhere like Dubai.  You know, somewhere the CSA can't chase him (although why he should worry I don't know - his child support works out at about £1.50/day and decreasing since he doesn't pay it).  We'll see.  Just wish we could blow a raspberry at the lot of them and have our own little place somewhere.


It's not as though Mark and I don't try.  We do.  I can't work (ill health) but I try writing - even got books on Amazon but how on Earth do you let people know they're there?  They aren't badly written (I've read far, far worse) but they languish.  Unloved.  And Mark paints.  http://mark-fluharty.artistwebsites.com/.  See?  He's always trying to work out money-making schemes but at the end of the day you need lucre to make it. And we don't have it. Not even the proverbial bean.  I'm definitely going to sulk.


Well, enough navel-gazing.  After all, I'm the only one who'll see this thing...could be fun.  All my darkest thoughts on here...just a shame I don't really have any.  Damn.