Not such a Merry Christmas as I had hoped for!

This Christmas everything started off fine, but then things started to go wrong! On Christmas Eve, I had to work until 01:00, and then drive home. Earlier in the day I had stopped off at a supermarket and bought my wife some flowers. When I arrived home at 02:30, she was awake and waiting for me. My wife was overjoyed with the gift of the flowers!

On Christmas Day we were up at 07:00, to take my wife's friend home, after an overnight stay. On the way back home we discovered that someone had made a snowman in the form of a polar bear! Back home, we opened our presents, nothing special, as we already knew most of what we were getting already! (That's because we all went shopping together to get the presents!) It was while I was sitting in the kitchen that the first problem started to manifest itself.

I noticed that every time I moved my left knee, it was very painful. It was fine when standing, or sitting. It was only if there was any movement in the joint that it hurt. I decided to rummage in the cupboard, and dig out the bottle of Cod Liver Oil tablets, hoping that they might help improve the situation.

Later in the morning, it was my task to prepare the turkey for roasting. As I had never done this before, I first searched the Internet, and came across Delia Smiths recipe. So my wife and I duly stuffed, and basted, the turkey with butter, and wrapped it in foil, then put it in the oven at a high temperature for 30 minutes.

After the 30 minutes had passed, that was when things went wrong. When I went to the oven to turn it down to slow cook the turkey, I noticed that the legs had stretched, and opened up the foil. I took the tray out of the oven and put it on the side I then got some more foil to seal up the turkey again. It was while I was trying to put the foil on the turkey that the tray decided to slide on the worktop and tumble on the floor. In an effort to stop the turkey ending up on the floor, I grabbed the tray with my left hand! That was when I discovered how hot the tray was. Although I managed to save the turkey, I ended up with blisters on my hand. Because of this accident, my wife banned me from the kitchen, and proceeded to cook a beautiful roast turkey dinner! I only wish that I had managed to cook the dinner as I had promised to do!

This morning, when I woke up, my knee was much worse. so I have included taking Ibuprofen tablets along with the Cod Liver Oil tablets. I am also wearing a heat pack on my knee to see if that will help. Personally, I think my colleague WarrenJoffre has been so generous, he has passed his affliction on to me! I just hope he doesn't pass on his back problems too!

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and a prosperous, fantastic New year to you all.

The Governments plan to make the nation miserable!

I have just read in the morning paper Alister Darling's pre-budget report. His idea is to tax the working population even more than before, borrow more money to shore up the crumbling economy, and worst of all delay any benefits as long as possible.

It doesn't matter who I vote for at the next general election, as these tax changes will still go ahead no matter which party wins. All I have discovered so far is that the Conservatives, might reduce income tax a bit, but have not bothered to reverse any of stealth taxes Labour seem to favour as their way to raise revenue.

If I could discover a politician who would try their best to reward the working population of this country instead of taking more away, I would vote for them no matter which party they belonged to. To give an example - Why is it that if you are ill and require medication you have to pay for the prescriptions in England? I know the Government will say that they have to fund the cost of the medication from somewhere, but I think that I have already paid for any medication I need.

We have been told that all workers will have to make increased NI contributions from 11% to 12% of their income. Now I was lead to believe that My NI contributions were supposed to support the NHS system. So why am I paying 11% of my income to fund the NHS and then have to pay again for medication to help me get back to work, when the Government is quite happy to allow people who are not working, and therefore are not contributing any NI into the Government coffers, allowed to get free medication?

I am beginning to wonder if there will come a time in the not too distant future, where those who work will be unable to provide enough taxable income to pay for all the benefits the government keeps paying out. Already we are told that the Government can no longer find the resources to continue to pay the state pension. What is the next casualty going to be?

The Governments drive to try and improve the NHS system doesn't seem to be working either. I have just discovered this week how it has affected me.

My daughter has been unwell since Friday (7 days) and I have finally managed to book an appointment for her to visit the doctor. Every day I have phoned the surgery, and every day I have been told there was no appointments available. It never used to be this way before. I could always get an appointment, if not today then at least the next day. Now I can only attempt to book an appointment for today. If I want one tomorrow, I have to phone tomorrow, and join the frantic queue of people trying to see their doctor! So tell me how this system is an improvement over the old system!

I have now got to the point where I am totally disillusioned with the political parties, and I am now unsure who I would vote for in the next general election. When the campaigning starts, I will have to discover what each candidate will try to achieve whilst in office, if they are elected. Then perhaps I might have a clearer idea of where to place my vote.

Recently Viewed

An OK film. Had a chortle over some of the antics Jim Carrey got up to.









Very interesting and worrying plot, where a super computer takes on a life of its own and arbitrarily decides who lives and dies in its version of utopia.

Very interesting film if, ultimately, a bit sad at the end.

Currently Reading

Synopsis:
The Industrialist
Henrik Vanger, head of the dynastic Vanger Corporation, is tormented by the loss of a child decades earlier and convinced that a member of his family has committed murder.

The Journalist
Mikael Blomkvist delves deep into the Vangers' past to uncover the truth behind the unsolved mystery. But someone else wants the past to remain a secret and will go to any lengths to keep it that way.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Lisbeth Salander, the enigmatic, delinquent and dangerous security specialist, assists in the investigation. A genius computer hacker, she tolerates no restrictions placed upon her by individuals, society or the law.

A Short Autumn Break

On Saturday, we decided to go to Devon to visit my brother for a short break. Before we actually arrived at our destination, we took a small detour via Weston-Super-Mare. When we arrived the tide was out, so we had vast expanses of sand and mud to investigate. The weather was typically British, one moment rain, next moment sunny. What was constant though was the wind! It kept blowing the rain sideways!





We then continued our journey through Exmoor to our destination of Totnes, Devon.







The next morning (Sunday) we had a very early start, and made a dash for the coast at Slapton, in the hope of seeing the sun rise over the sea.



















Unfortunately, the British weather didn't quite allow us to see a perfect sunrise. Although what we did see was pretty impressive.

















As the morning progressed we went exploring along the beach, and my daughter decided to sit on some rocks and watch the waves break on the shore.....

















...What she hadn't realised was the tide was coming in, and she got an unexpected surprise!!













Next, we went for a walk alongside the river Dart. This time the weather was beautiful and sunny. It was very relaxing and peaceful walk, apart from the steep climb up the hill to Dartington College! At least it was an easy walk downhill home again afterwards.











Later in the afternoon we trundled off to Start Point, in the hope of watching the sunset! We took a walk down to the lighthouse, and discovered that there was a path that continued along the coast westwards...













This was some of the most rugged countryside I have ever seen. One mistake with our footing, and we could have tumbled down the slope onto the rocks below! The constant wind didn't help matters either!















We eventually found a small sand cove with rocks strewn around. The rocks were absolutely covered with limpets! Although I searched some of the rock pools, I didn't spot any other interesting creatures there. Again, we were thwarted by clouds of seeing the sunset. We also discovered that there would have been another headland blocking our view too.







The next day, on our way home, we stopped off at the village of Beer, so that I could take a look at the model railway exhibition at Pecorama.







Then we continued on to Charmouth, and walked along the

Jurassic coastline searching for fossils. I think I found a stone that had grass seeds embedded into it. We didn't find any real fossils though, as we hadn't brought a hammer with us to break open the stones.









Finally we stopped off at Lyme Regis to see if we could find a cafe that sold fresh locally caught seafood. Unfortunately, the only place we found didn't open until 5 pm, and we were not prepared to wait another 4 hours! So I set the GPS for home and stopped off at Yeovil for some fuel, and a village near Swindon for some fish and chips. We finally got home about 9 pm that evening.

Currently Reading

Synopsis: In the Micronesian Islands, a top-secret, US government-sponsored undersea lab conducting vital biomedical research on a rare jellyfish known as the Blue Medusa suddenly disappears. At the same time, off Bermuda, a bathysphere is attacked by an underwater vehicle. Stranded half a mile below the surface, its passengers - including Zavala - are left to die. Only Kurt Austin's heroic measures can now save them from a watery grave.

Austin, suspecting a connection between the two mysterious events, puts the NUMA team on the case. He has no idea what he has just got them all into - a hideous series of medical experiments... an extraordinarily ambitious Chinese criminal organization... a secret new virus that threatens to set off a worldwide pandemic... Austin and Zavala have been in tight spots before, but this time it's not just their own skins they're trying to save - it's the lives of millions.

And Pop! Out went all the lights!

Ever since I had the burst immersion tank, I have had problems with my electrics! Because the water had poured through the floor below and affected the wiring to the smoke alarms and the downstairs lighting, I was advised by the boiler engineer to call out an electrician to check the wiring too.

I duly called in an electrician, and he checked the wiring and the fittings, he found that nothing was wrong with them. He did, however, discover that the RCD breaker on the fuse board would not trip every time he tested it. He then replaced it.

That was when my problems seemed to begin!

First it was the iron. I had no problems with it for the years before, now every time I used it, it would trip the breaker! I then called out the electrician believing that the RCD was too sensitive. When the electrician arrived, she did a whole range of tests, and informed me that the iron actually was shorting out, and this was the reason for the RCD tripping. I had to go out and buy a new iron!

On Thursday evening, I decided to clean the oven. First I removed all the metal shelves, and then switched on the self cleaning programme. It takes about two and a half hours to do this. When I open the oven, all that is left inside, is ashes, which can simply be wiped away! It certainly saves on elbow grease!

I discovered the next morning that the light in the oven had blown, so I tried to replace it. That is when I encountered a small problem. The glass cover protecting the bulb wouldn't unscrew! I then sprayed a little WD40 on the thread, and hey presto! the cover came off with ease. I replaced the bulb, and replaced the cover.

I still had not cleaned the shelves and brackets. So yesterday, I started to clean the shelves. It was when I open the oven to replace the clean shelves that I encountered my present problem. When I opened the oven, and the light came on, the RCD would trip! At first,when I removed the bulb, the RCD would keep tripping. At present, I can still open the oven door, without the light in it, and the RCD will not trip. I haven't as yet tried to see if the oven itself will trip the RCD when I switch it on. I was just happy last night to be able to open the oven door without the RCD tripping!

Later today, I will actually test the oven, although I still do not know why there is a problem, with the light. I now wonder if I call out the electrician again, he/she will tell me that there is a problem with the oven, and not with the RCD. I'm not sure if the maintenance contract I have includes repairs to ovens. If not, I then would have to find somewhere that could repair the problem, or worst case scenario, contemplate purchasing a new oven!