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!

Baby Melons

Not done much today. I helped my wife prepare the paperwork we need for our meeting at Spalding CAB. I hope the advisor we're seeing is nice. They can sometimes be rather scary.
I'm really please to see that my self-pollination appears to have worked and is bearing fruit, literally. I have four developing embryo melons.

 I will need to research how one goes about supporting the melons as they continue to grow. My wife suggested using tights which would contain the fruit and could be fastened to provide support. I laughed at first but having given it some thought, it does sound a rather good idea.

Peterborough was my destination yesterday. I travelled there with my close friends and we visited Trains 4 U. We had a couple of locos to collect and I wanted to look for something I could use as a bridge to carry the new line I'm constructing. It had been at least three months since our last visit and it was nice to get out for a few hours.

It's Sunday evening and it's already dark at just beofre 7pm. Winter is certainly on its way and it won't be long until it's dark at 5pm... I must confess to enjoying the dark evenings. For someone like me, dark evenings could be a problem but they don't really affect me. It's actually been rather mild today but depressingly grey and cloudy. The Daily Express has been headlining dire warnings about freezing weather and snow to come in a few weeks. Local councils have been stockpiling grit and salt and spreaders are being prepared to hit the roads at the first sign of frost. I'll actually be pretty arsed if the weather doesn't turn out the way it's been predicted. I love snow and I don't mind the cold provided we have enough fuel for the fire.

A glorious Sunday

A bright, sunnny and warm day. Unusual? Yep, but very welcome. It's amazing the effect a little sunshine has on people. Clothes become scant and outlandish, tops come off cars and people behave differently, some deciding to drive like complete twats. The sun and the heat also brings out the flies, the wasps and the bees
but it's a small price to pay. My wife hates bees and wasps. I have to deal with these. She handles the things with eight legs, much to my relief. The weather also brings out he barbeque. In recent years, this has become a very British phenomenan so much so it wouldn't surprise me if we had overtaken the Australians in the popularity stakes. My in-laws are particularly fond of them. The weather has had an odd effect on me today. Well I'm blaming the weather anyway. It should have had a positive effect, but it did exactly the opposite. I felt awful with a head feeling like it was being squeezed. Quite why I felt under so much pressure is a mystery. I have the same worries and uncertainties plaguing my every day. Normally these are kept under the surface, but not today. Something was different. Talk about re-painting the outside of the house did nothing to improve things. How can I consider making the house look better if we won't be in it next year? Give me security and I will devote every spare minute I have to it. Security equals confidence. Confidence equals motivation...

Mothering Sunday

I don't know if this is a worldwide phenomenon but here in the UK, it's Mother's Day or Mothering Sunday. It's one of several days each year set aside for spending ridiculous amounts of money in card shops and florists.
My son is the most excited this morning person - he thinks it's like a Birthday and he's written his card and prepared his gift. He's now waiting anxiously for his mummy to wake-up... he's been waiting since 6am...
We'll of course be 'doing the rounds' today visiting my mum and mum-in-law.Oh what fun...