As predicted Milton Keynes was hell on wheels yesterday.
Although we set out after lunch, normally a big mistake at this time of year, we were amazed to find a parking space with ease. The power of the blue badge I suspect as other vehicles were cruising around the car parks like sharks waiting to pounce.
Driving a trike around in such a crowded space turned out to be a lesson in avoidance. I lost count of how many people walked into me and in one case actually fell across me. Fortunately neither of us were hurt and the woman that landed on top of me was extremely apologetic. This is one of the disadvantages of having such a small mobility scooter, you are that much harder to see, however I saw a similar incident involving a conventional sized scooter so I think people are just blind.
We made a beeline to Waterstones as all I really wanted was to use my gift cards up and then dropped into John Lewis, Boots and Lush before heading home. We ended up with bags of books and not much else, which seems to be the norm for us.
This morning we were up early and heading for Luton Airport before eight, no I'm not fleeing the country though I have given it some thought from time to time. We were there to collect Svet who actually arrived fairly late having had a bumpy flight and a nail biting landing due to the high winds that had sprung up overnight. Being early and a Saturday we did the whole journey there and back in just over an hour and it wasn't long before she was settled in the spare room.
This afternoon I've got a choice of doing the ironing, yes more, or going out to replenish supplies for New Year. Personally I'm in favour of going out tomorrow as anything fresh has more chance of making it to Tuesday than if I bought it today. I also think it will be quieter but I could be wrong. I have to go out though as I can't do it on Monday as I'm working.
My cold is still hanging on. I feel quite poorly first thing but everything clears once I'm up and about and by midday, apart from the blasted cough, I'm fine. This is the fifth week and I can't believe I've still got it, what the hell is going on? I'm also tired. I've been staying up later than I normally do as we are watching a lot of films in the evening and then getting up early to prepare food or catch up on small jobs around the house. I've got to start getting back into the normal routine pretty quickly as next week I'm back to my normal work pattern and if I'm going to make it through all four days I need to be rested.
It is one week since I was put on the transplant list and I'm still jumpy when the phone goes at a unexpected time. We had two calls yesterday that made my heart leap but one was a wrong number and the other was someone call Micheal with a very strong Indian accent who kindly rang up to tell me my computer had a problem and he'd fix it for me. Obviously my Apple Mac ruse has expired but after what I had to say to them I bet they wish it hadn't.
I cannot stand these scum who think calling themselves by English names are going to fool people into thinking they are genuine. As I've been bothered by these people for at least a year now I have to wonder why they are still trying this scam. Surely everyone in Britain must know about them by now so their success rate must be going down? Unfortunately I know from experience that there are still trusting souls out there who are stupid enough to hand their bank details over to anyone who asks for them and while people still do that the scammers will continue to phone.
In the news an article by Richard Littlejohn a columnist with the British newspaper the Daily Mail has been causing a bit of a stir.
For those that don't know several children have been killed on our roads this Christmas, most notably two young brothers when the car they were travelling in overturned on the M6. These poor little mites fortunately died instantly along with another family member, two others are still in hospital.
Three days after this horrendous accident Littlejohn chose to have a rant about the length of time police closed roads after such an accident. He wondered why it was necessary to 'close the whole motorway for several hours' and surely 'one lane could have been opened to let traffic past'. Maybe this is a man of very little imagination, I don't know but certainly this is a man without any respect for the dead and their families. When a car crashes so spectacularly on a clear dry day there has to be a reason. Maybe there was something in the road. Maybe there was a fault with the car. Or maybe, just maybe someone high on drink, drugs or just incompetent clipped the car and sent it into it's fatal roll. Without a proper investigation the police will be unable to give the family the answers they so desperately need to understand this tragic event. And to do that the police need time. Everything will need to be photographed from every possible angle. The road will have to be finger tip searched for clues such as headlight glass and neither of these things can be done safely with traffic thundering past just inches from the crash scene.
Then there is the safety of other road users. Does Littlejohn really want to see other accidents being caused by people rubber necking and therefore blocking the motorway even longer?
And finally there is the dignity of the victims. As a motorist I certainly would not like to drive past an accident and see bodies still in the road or in the car. As a mother I would hate the thought of my children's bodies being on display to all and sundry. And just as a human being I think the family of these poor unfortunate children deserve to have as much time as it takes spent looking for answers. OK, people would be late for their Christmas dinners, but they will have their dinner eventually. These poor children will never attend a family dinner again and I think Richard Littlejohn should show a little compassion and stop to think next time he decides to complain about inconvenience. I'm sure if it ever happened to him he would soon change his tune.
The New Year honours list has been announced today and as expected there are a lot of sports men and women represented. Now although I think it is nice to honour the most successful British Olympic team in history do we have to do it my making them knights of the realm etc?
Lets be honest about this. The honours were originally meant for those who do good deeds and don't normally get any recognition for it. This can mean people who do charity work or people who have done something exceptional during their normal working or leisure time. So we are talking soldiers who have shown immense bravery and saved others at risk to themselves, or the man in the street who pulled a child from a burning car or the woman who set up a charity to help disadvantaged kids without any monetary help from anyone. These are the people who should be getting the honours.
Sports people work hard, there is no doubting that but it is selfish work. They 'sacrifice' their relationships, their families and their friendships in pursuit of greatness. Some will say they are doing it for their country but ultimately they are doing it for themselves. This is not to say they are doing anything wrong, it is their choice but surely their reward for all the effort is the gold medal, the cup, the trophy. Do they really need additional honours heaped upon them? Some have become extremely wealthy through their sports, what more do they want?
I also have a problem with celebrities getting honours. Often these are due to their 'charity' work but often it is not. And for those who do get it for charity work you have to question exactly how much they do other than let their name be used and turn up to the odd event if there are enough photographers present. Yes there are some who do an awful lot, take David Walliams, Eddie Izzard and the now disgraced Jimmy Savile, all were or are frequently filmed doing something totally extrodinary in the name of charity. These people get off their bums and do things, and not just for Children In Need or Comic Relief.
And I absolutely hate honours going to politicians or the financiers, if there were a less honourable lot I'd like to see them.
Ohps, sorry, I went off on a mini rant there when all I meant to say was I think honours should go to the people they were meant for, the unrecognised.
Well it's time for me to get back in the kitchen. I'm hopeful of writing a blog tomorrow but just in case I don't I wish you all a very Happy New Year and I hope that those of you who are ill get better in 2013.
Although we set out after lunch, normally a big mistake at this time of year, we were amazed to find a parking space with ease. The power of the blue badge I suspect as other vehicles were cruising around the car parks like sharks waiting to pounce.
Driving a trike around in such a crowded space turned out to be a lesson in avoidance. I lost count of how many people walked into me and in one case actually fell across me. Fortunately neither of us were hurt and the woman that landed on top of me was extremely apologetic. This is one of the disadvantages of having such a small mobility scooter, you are that much harder to see, however I saw a similar incident involving a conventional sized scooter so I think people are just blind.
We made a beeline to Waterstones as all I really wanted was to use my gift cards up and then dropped into John Lewis, Boots and Lush before heading home. We ended up with bags of books and not much else, which seems to be the norm for us.
This morning we were up early and heading for Luton Airport before eight, no I'm not fleeing the country though I have given it some thought from time to time. We were there to collect Svet who actually arrived fairly late having had a bumpy flight and a nail biting landing due to the high winds that had sprung up overnight. Being early and a Saturday we did the whole journey there and back in just over an hour and it wasn't long before she was settled in the spare room.
This afternoon I've got a choice of doing the ironing, yes more, or going out to replenish supplies for New Year. Personally I'm in favour of going out tomorrow as anything fresh has more chance of making it to Tuesday than if I bought it today. I also think it will be quieter but I could be wrong. I have to go out though as I can't do it on Monday as I'm working.
My cold is still hanging on. I feel quite poorly first thing but everything clears once I'm up and about and by midday, apart from the blasted cough, I'm fine. This is the fifth week and I can't believe I've still got it, what the hell is going on? I'm also tired. I've been staying up later than I normally do as we are watching a lot of films in the evening and then getting up early to prepare food or catch up on small jobs around the house. I've got to start getting back into the normal routine pretty quickly as next week I'm back to my normal work pattern and if I'm going to make it through all four days I need to be rested.
It is one week since I was put on the transplant list and I'm still jumpy when the phone goes at a unexpected time. We had two calls yesterday that made my heart leap but one was a wrong number and the other was someone call Micheal with a very strong Indian accent who kindly rang up to tell me my computer had a problem and he'd fix it for me. Obviously my Apple Mac ruse has expired but after what I had to say to them I bet they wish it hadn't.
I cannot stand these scum who think calling themselves by English names are going to fool people into thinking they are genuine. As I've been bothered by these people for at least a year now I have to wonder why they are still trying this scam. Surely everyone in Britain must know about them by now so their success rate must be going down? Unfortunately I know from experience that there are still trusting souls out there who are stupid enough to hand their bank details over to anyone who asks for them and while people still do that the scammers will continue to phone.
In the news an article by Richard Littlejohn a columnist with the British newspaper the Daily Mail has been causing a bit of a stir.
For those that don't know several children have been killed on our roads this Christmas, most notably two young brothers when the car they were travelling in overturned on the M6. These poor little mites fortunately died instantly along with another family member, two others are still in hospital.
Three days after this horrendous accident Littlejohn chose to have a rant about the length of time police closed roads after such an accident. He wondered why it was necessary to 'close the whole motorway for several hours' and surely 'one lane could have been opened to let traffic past'. Maybe this is a man of very little imagination, I don't know but certainly this is a man without any respect for the dead and their families. When a car crashes so spectacularly on a clear dry day there has to be a reason. Maybe there was something in the road. Maybe there was a fault with the car. Or maybe, just maybe someone high on drink, drugs or just incompetent clipped the car and sent it into it's fatal roll. Without a proper investigation the police will be unable to give the family the answers they so desperately need to understand this tragic event. And to do that the police need time. Everything will need to be photographed from every possible angle. The road will have to be finger tip searched for clues such as headlight glass and neither of these things can be done safely with traffic thundering past just inches from the crash scene.
Then there is the safety of other road users. Does Littlejohn really want to see other accidents being caused by people rubber necking and therefore blocking the motorway even longer?
And finally there is the dignity of the victims. As a motorist I certainly would not like to drive past an accident and see bodies still in the road or in the car. As a mother I would hate the thought of my children's bodies being on display to all and sundry. And just as a human being I think the family of these poor unfortunate children deserve to have as much time as it takes spent looking for answers. OK, people would be late for their Christmas dinners, but they will have their dinner eventually. These poor children will never attend a family dinner again and I think Richard Littlejohn should show a little compassion and stop to think next time he decides to complain about inconvenience. I'm sure if it ever happened to him he would soon change his tune.
The New Year honours list has been announced today and as expected there are a lot of sports men and women represented. Now although I think it is nice to honour the most successful British Olympic team in history do we have to do it my making them knights of the realm etc?
Lets be honest about this. The honours were originally meant for those who do good deeds and don't normally get any recognition for it. This can mean people who do charity work or people who have done something exceptional during their normal working or leisure time. So we are talking soldiers who have shown immense bravery and saved others at risk to themselves, or the man in the street who pulled a child from a burning car or the woman who set up a charity to help disadvantaged kids without any monetary help from anyone. These are the people who should be getting the honours.
Sports people work hard, there is no doubting that but it is selfish work. They 'sacrifice' their relationships, their families and their friendships in pursuit of greatness. Some will say they are doing it for their country but ultimately they are doing it for themselves. This is not to say they are doing anything wrong, it is their choice but surely their reward for all the effort is the gold medal, the cup, the trophy. Do they really need additional honours heaped upon them? Some have become extremely wealthy through their sports, what more do they want?
I also have a problem with celebrities getting honours. Often these are due to their 'charity' work but often it is not. And for those who do get it for charity work you have to question exactly how much they do other than let their name be used and turn up to the odd event if there are enough photographers present. Yes there are some who do an awful lot, take David Walliams, Eddie Izzard and the now disgraced Jimmy Savile, all were or are frequently filmed doing something totally extrodinary in the name of charity. These people get off their bums and do things, and not just for Children In Need or Comic Relief.
And I absolutely hate honours going to politicians or the financiers, if there were a less honourable lot I'd like to see them.
Ohps, sorry, I went off on a mini rant there when all I meant to say was I think honours should go to the people they were meant for, the unrecognised.
Well it's time for me to get back in the kitchen. I'm hopeful of writing a blog tomorrow but just in case I don't I wish you all a very Happy New Year and I hope that those of you who are ill get better in 2013.
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