An Uncomfortable Truth

In the news at the moment is the Great British Meat Scandal, as I choose to call it. In a month or two I suspect it will have been overtaken by something else but at the moment, it has us all thinking about the food we eat, how it is made and where it comes from. The 'uncomfortable truth' for many is that for the most part, none of us really know where our food comes from, particularly processed meat. One thing that is clear is that very little of it originates here in the UK, most of it coming from Eastern Europe. I try to avoid processed meat as much as I can and I'm a naturally fussy eater anyway, inspecting most things before deciding to put them in me. If I have eaten horse meat, then I suspect like many I wouldn't have known or tasted any difference. I have no doubt that the procedures for checking what goes into our food will be tightened, but even then, how can we be sure of what we're being given to eat? I do believe that cost has a lot to do with it, though I don't believe the consumer is to blame for the cheapness and lowering of quality in the food we eat. The supermarkets are in ferocious competition with each other to sell us ever cheaper food. The economy has shrunk household budgets to such an extent that many have no choice but the buy the 'value' brands. Lower quality ingredients should be expected, but to substitute the main ingredient, i.e. beef for something entirely different is simply wrong.
This whole sorry saga will have a significant impact on the way we shop for food. Already, there is a decline in the sale of ready meals with many shoppers opting for alternative meats such as chicken and pork. A shake up of the whole industry is needed and I think that is what we will see over the coming weeks. This will inevitably come at a cost as greater emphasis is given by food producers and retailers to the processes involved in getting meat from the farms to our plates. If this means an increase in the cost of meat, then so be it. Perhaps that has been needed for some time. Perhaps it is cost that has driven quality and standards so low that even basic ingredients can no longer be guaranteed, or the origins of these ingredients truly known.
This has to be a wake up call for the whole industry. Consumers should expect a minimum standard of quality and assurance. I want to know what I am eating and where it is from. Don't you?

Arse!

My previous optimism has been obliterated. The car failed its MOT in spectacular fashion. Of the list of items it was failed on, the steering rack tops it and with the car worth just £300 at most, it probably isn't worth paying for the repairs. Today has been miserable. I hate the waiting and today I passed the time by working on the train layout. Despite having a couple of shed heaters, it was freezing cold in there. In fact I'm still thawing out five hours on.
My wife is distraught and very depressed. We secretly knew the car would probably fail but expected it to be the brake pads. Instead we have a long list of things including brake pipes, springs and a lot of welding. It can all be done, and the car will certainly pass the MOT but at huge cost. I'll find out tomorrow exactly how much but if it's more than £300 then we'll be looking for a new car. The guy we take the car to has told me he'd be interested in buying the car from us. After all, it has four new tyres and a host of spares he can make use of. So hopefully the money he gives us for it combines with the amount we have set aside will finance a replacement run-around.
It's all just the latest thing in a long, long run of bad luck. Who was I kidding to suggest that their would be nothing wrong with the car? Myself I think. I wanted to believe that we'd get away with just the fee for the MOT and almost convinced myself of it. I think my wife believed my reassurances a little too much. The reality is that whatever you believe, it will normally be ten times worse. If you think it will take an hour or two, it will be more like thee or four. If you think they'll call you, they won't. You'll end up chasing them. This is the reality sadly and trying to remain positive is often the biggest mistake you can make. Arse!

Car Worries & Other Stuff

The car is going in for its MOT tomorrow morning. No matter how much I try to reassure myself that it's running fine and has nothing wrong with it, I'm resigned to the fact that there's probably something nasty lurking under the bonnet or something worn out that we can't see. There's money set aside just in case, but as normal it's money we've borrowed. I just know it's going to be a nightmare of a day. A friend is following me there and taking me back to theirs until the car is ready to collect again. My wife will be at home nervously awaiting my phone call to let her know the outcome. Whatever happens, we'll have to deal with it. It's not that it's a flash expensive car. Far from it. I used to own and drive nice cars and spend literally hundreds on MOT's and services. I look back now and cringe at the huge amounts of money I wasted. Now of course things are very different. We drive a basic little car. It isn't the cleanest, it isn't the fastest and it certainly isn't the biggest. But it gets us from A to B relatively inexpensively. Above all, it's reliable, very reliable. It starts first time whatever the weather.
So it's pointless worrying. We're fortunate to know the guy doing the MOT quite well and he knows the car. He's also honest. I know this to be true.

A busy Sunday. My son had a party today at the Funfarm in Spalding. It's a very popular venue and takes all the hassle out of arranging and hosting children's parties. The kids love it and the parents can sit in relative comfort whilst keeping a watcfull eye on their offspring. The allocated two hours is plenty, for the kids and the adults. Definately.

I'll write soon about music. I need to be in the right frame of mind and I'm currently stressed. I enjoy listening to a varied range of music, modern and old. But what's important for me and I suspect many others are the things that we associate to the music. The things we remember when we listen and the emotions certain tracks seem to trigger. I always treat music as a type of medicine or drug. It can have an enormous effect on mood, which for some is a very useful thing.

Something new, and I'm going to journal my viewing habits. I watch a lot of TV and much of it is obtained via the Internet. So here goes, and it's by no means an exhaustive list.

Stuff I've been watching...

Sherlock (BBC1 and current series now finished)
Bones (fantastic series from the US and downloaded via wonderful BitTorrent)
Criminal Minds (ditto)
Grim (ditto)
Rizzoli and Isles (ditto)
Person of Interest (ditto)
Call the Midwife (BBC)
Celebrity Coach Trip (Channel 4)
Idiot Abroad (Sky)
Dancing On Ice (ITV1)

Last film I've watched...

Hangover 2 - not as good as the first but still funny. I'd give it 8/10.

Stuff I'm eagerly awaiting...

Whitechapel (ITV1)

Stuff I'm listening to...

The Archers (of course)
Dad's Army (original radio series)
Sherlock Holmes - The House of Silk (BBC Radio)

So there we are. I suppose I'm a bit of a media junkie!

Self-sufficiency mini-project

Today I finally got round to starting my mini self-sufficiency project. I have decided to start growing things and I'm starting with tomatoes. I'm keeping things simple to begin with by using a grow-bag. I've been told I just need to bed-in my tomato plants (kindly provided by my elite gardening father) and add water. To aid my plants, I have added a few bamboo poles for them to climb up. I'm really hoping my little venture will be productive. We probably spend about £5 a month on tomatoes so it would be nice if I could produce my own. I also have my eye on cucumbers and I'm about to research the best way to grow them. Cucumbers have always been a firm favorite and it's common for us to spend at least £5 on these also.
Gooseberries... now there's a fruit you don't see very much of these days. I used to eat them a lot when I was young. My father grew them on his allotment down in Kent. I recall with fondness how I would munch on them whenever I visited him tending his plot. I'll look into growing these too though I don't think it's the right time of year to begin. I'll update regularly on progress.

It was nice to be able to visit Peterborough with my friend again today. I've mentioned previously that he is disabled having suffered a stroke a few years ago and needs a wheelchair to get around. It's always a pleasure for me to take him out for a few hours. Being stuck indoors often makes him depressed so it was great to see him so happy as we drove across the fens. We visited again our favorite store 'Trains4u' situated at Fengate. We're guaranteed a warm welcome from the staff there and they always take a keen interest in our 32 ft model railway project. In the past, we would normally spend well over £100 on each visit but now we spend half that amount. It was sad to see that this country's current obsession of over-pricing has spread also to model railway accessories. Even the smallest items appear to have doubled in price making a once popular and modestly affordable hobby a luxury for the rich or those with huge amounts of money to spare.

I have yet to film my v-log for my YouTube channel. I've decided, incidentally, to call the channel 'From the Wash to the World'. I'm keen to promote the things I'm doing here in a remote corner of Lincolnshire and make them available to anyone interested wherever they are in the world. I've never actually thought that anything I do is remotely interesting to anyone but experience recently has shown that a guy in remotest Australia can have an audience on the other side of the world, interested in his projects to conserve water, grow vegetables and live to a budget. I'll give it a go tomorrow as I'll be on my own - apart from the dog - so should be able to produce a short film uninterrupted.