Vegetable plot, wasps & guided busway

It's been a few days since I posted last. It's good to see justice being served against all those involved in the recent riots and I hope we never see a repeat of the violence and destruction we have witnessed.

OK, vegetables. I'm having mixed success with my vegetable and herb growing. Certainly the things I'm growing under cover in the conservatory are doing quite well. My herbs are coming on nicely and my watermelon plants and sugar snap peas are showing encouraging signs of growth. The same can't be said unfortunately for my outdoor plot. I am blighted by slugs and they have managed despite all my attempts to get rid of them, to eat all my cucumber plants and have a good go at everything else. I've set into the ground two dishes full of beer (cheap stuff from Asda). These actually work extremely well and are each day full of a new catch of slugs but this isn't enough to catch all of them and I have a feeling they pop along for a beer after munching what's left of my plants and fall drunk into my beer trap.

Where on Earth have all these wasps come from? I have never seen so many of the buggers. My wife hates them and has taken to ensuring the doors and windows are kept closed - which in this mild weather is really quite impractical. I've lost count of the number I've had to deal with in the last week. We have a mutual understanding - she deals with spiders and I deal with wasps and bees. It works quite well and my wife has learnt to keep her weapon of choice, the vacuum cleaner, readily to hand.
We have a couple of jam jars at the moment acting very well as bait. The wasps fly into the jar and fall into the layer of water inside. We must have caught hundreds this way.

I'm in a bit of a rut at the moment waiting for the next step in my recent job application. I know they are getting references at the moment and probably awaiting the result of my CRB check. I know this can be a lengthy process. Mine of cause is clear of any breaches of the law, but most employers insist on doing them, which is both understandable and unfortunate in this day and age. I expect they are waiting too for the reference from my son's Godparents. I suggested they be a referee as I have driven for them and have experience in handling mobility equipment. They have only just returned from a holiday to Cornwall so I expect it will take them a little time to go through their post. In addition, one of their dogs is very poorly and I suspect they will be having to make a very difficult decision very soon. I know having spoken with them recently that they are both quite distraught, and understandably so.

Something unusual has appeared in Cambridge and opened a week or so ago. It's a guided busway that's been built on old railway bed. Essentially it's a specially designed road with raised curbs. Buses drive between the curbs and tiny wheels protruding from the side of the bus guide it along the track. The driver can take his or her hands off the wheel and simply stop for passengers along the route. The busway has been designed to prevent other vehicles from using it and relatively high speeds can be attained. OK, sounds good so far but I have to ask why a tramway wasn't built or better still a railway? The whole thing cost a reported £180 million to construct and there is understandably a level of criticism given current spending restraints. What happens when a bus breaks down? Surely it will block the busway until it can be towed out?
I can't help thinking this is an expensive mistake. I am a big fan of public transport but I'm sure the money could have been put to better use... I won't post any images as a Google search for 'guided busway' will provide all the detail you need.

Doing fine on a budget & Kwik Fit

Like many, we have been living on a budget for some time now. It's easy to assume that having a limit to the amount you can spend on food and consumables would be restrictive and force us to do without things. In fact the opposite is true. There are things certainly that we no longer buy but these are unhealthy foods and things that we really didn't need. In fact our new buying habits have enabled me to lose 6lbs in two weeks. I now actually enjoy being the careful shopper, hunting out bargains and trying to get the most for every penny. We now buy a lot of the things that are good for us and I'm really getting to enjoy the new healthy lifestyle. This has been helped in part by healthy eating money off vouchers which are now available in most supermarkets.
So out have gone the crisps and the fatty, sweet snacks and in are the crisp bread, the cracker and the granary loaf. We're eating just as well, feeling full, and shedding pounds. So all's good.

We had cause to get a new tyre fitted to the car yesterday. The inside rear had worn on the outer edge and it really needed doing. So we popped to our Spalding Kwik Fit and on arrival found all the bays full with cars. Fearing a long wait, my wife and son popped to a local store for some bits and pieces while I stayed at the garage. Before I knew it, the car was on the ramp, a space having been made almost immediately and the new tyre was being fitted. The whole thing too just 10 minutes by which time my wife and son had arrived back from their short trip. I'm not normally very complimentary when it comes to customer service but on this occasion, Kwik Fit are certainly worthy of my praise. A job very well done and worth all of the £55 spent.

I haven't mentioned the outcome of my medical examination last Thursday for my new job. This is mainly because, I haven't heard from my prospective employer though I was informed I had passed by the doctor I saw. It is true I'm not in perfect working order and do have to take some medication daily to control a few things, but I am physically fit and able to drive any size of vehicle safely. So I'm hopeful I'll hear something soon. I know they were checking my references last Friday as I had a call asking for my RBS employee number.

My vegetable plot is coming on nicely and things have begun to take root and start growing. I am having real problems with slugs for which there appear to be thousands all over the garden. I am using two beer traps and these have been very effective though I suspect the buggers have staggered into them after munching their way through my cucumber plants...

I've managed to transplant my honeydew watermelon plants from their propagator to a grow bag in my conservatory. I'm hopeful this will provide the ideal conditions needed, but time will tell.

There's a lot in the news at the moment about unrest across London sparked by the shooting in Tottenham last Thursday. There can be no justification whatsoever for the mindless violence and willful destruction we have witnessed. The investigation should be allowed to proceed and a full inquiry should take place to discover who was at fault. If the police are found to be at fault, then justice should be served according to law and there should be transparency at every stage.