The spring cleaning continues.

Today was the turn of the cooker!! Well the oven and grill had their turn yesterday, so I finished off today with the hob and then pulling the cooker out and doing behind, beside, down the sides and underneath (it's free standing - when I get rich and can have a new kitchen, I'm going for fitted). It is now sparkling, even though some swine decided to use the grill to toast hot cross buns for breakfast (I'll give you a clue, it wasn't Amber, she likes her hot cross buns untoasted!!)



I then finished the washing and as it was a lovely sunny day I was able to put it out on the line to day, the first time for 2011. I then spent the afternoon ironing so as to make sure that hubby has a shirt for work tomorrow. He did have one, and I planned to do the ironing tomorrow, but then he as called last night, asking if he wanted overtime for today, so the ironing had to be brought forward!!!



Tomorrow I shall have a day of rest. For a start my car is going in for a service. The little spanner thingy on the odometer has been flashing for a couple of weeks, and as my journey to work is nearly a 50 mile round trip, it is important to make sure it is all working fine. It has been a bit problematic starting over the last couple of months..............she does start, but a couple of times, although the engine is turning over fine, it is not catching, and several attempts are required, so hopefully they can sort that out. Also the rear screen heater does not appear to be working well...................strange, I had the same problem with my last car..............maybe I am destined to always have a car where the rear window demister does not work properly!! Anyway, no doubt it will cost me an arm and a leg, as I think I may need a new tyre as well..........sigh!



I may also be going on a sight seeing tour of a Slough bus route. When hubby had just started being a bus driver, I went out with him for a day, so I could marvel at his ability to drive a vehicle about 40 feet long and six feet wide (or however long these things are?). He was still on the basic routes that all the new drivers start on (they don't stray far from the bus station, so if they have problem, rescue is never that far away). Now, with the exception of a couple of routes, he drives them all, including through Windsor, down by the river, where it is actually not really large enough to get a car, let alone a bus! So, I may go and see how his skills have progressed, especially as he got top marks in he review. But this all depends if the car is back from the garage in time.

Not at work...........so that 'll be spring cleaning then!

A few blogs ago, I mentioned that I had become and Aunty again, when my sister gave birth to her first. Anthony was due at the beginning of January, but ended up being nearly two weeks late in the end. My plan, was that hubby and I would go out to South Africa in February............still summer there, so nice and hot, and hopefully sis would have started getting used to this being a mother lark.



Then we discovered the downside to hubby's job, his holiday is assigned. He gets a week in spring, two weeks in summer and then a week in autumn, and the company tell him when those weeks are, and the only way you can change them is to swap with another driver. Hubby's weeks ended up being in March, August and December, which kind of put a spanner in our plans!!! Hubby swapped his March week for February and then our plans fell apart, and we are now going in August. Nephew will be seven months old and it will be the middle of winter (they live in Durban with a sub tropical climate, so not too cold), but never mind.



So, as we were not going anywhere I cancelled the two weeks holiday I had booked with the exception of my three night shifts this coming weekend, as by taking three days annual leave I can have eight days off :-), and today was the first one. It started early as I had a doctor's appointment at just after 9am to be told I have tennis elbow. Great, that's more tablets to take then; codeine for the gallstones and ibuprofen for the elbow!!!! Then, upon my return home, the spring cleaning began.



So far I have defrosted the freezer (something hubby promised to do last week during his week off!!!), cleaned the oven and the grill (they are separate) and done all the washing. I have a list - it is long - of things to accomplish during my time off, not sure if I will manage them all, but I can but try.



My last day at work was one of those we prefer not to have, busy and nothing simple, but shit happens as they say, including the gentleman who would not accept that we had sent his passport back to the issuing authority last August, and was insistant that we still had it! I also spent great chunks of it trying to sort out my pay. We are paid on the last working day of the month, but our pay slips are available on the intranet a week before. When I checked mine it was rather less than I expected, and then I realised the problem.......I have not been paid any of my weekends, my bank holiday pay or my overtime, about £300 worth all told. So quick call to finance confirmed they did not get my overtime form. I should say that I submitted it in time, it was authorised by my supervisor, and then finance sent it back telling me I can not claim bank holiday pay if I claim the bank holiday - ie you can't have double time and a lieu day, one or the other. For me, 1st January was a working day, and 3rd January - the bank holiday - was a rostered rest day. So I claim the double time, as I am already on a day off!!!! But when I sent it back with this explanation, the internal mail lost it!!!!!!! However, I am hopeful that it will be paid at the end of February, rather than having to wait until the end of March, thanks to the efforts on a certain member of the finance team on my behalf. I now just have to wait until Monday.



Hubby has complained that I have not mentioned his review at work. I did point out that it is my blog, but just to keep him happy, here goes. As he is still a rather new bus driver, they give him a review after about four months or so, just to see that he is going everything ok, and his driving is up to scratch. He has recently had his, and was assessed by two of the driving instructors, at different times, and was very pleased to be told they had both given him 1 on everything. 1 is apparently the highest score, and they assess his driving, how he deals with passengers, how much attention he pays to the road, etc, etc. His boss told him they are very happy with him and to keep on doing what he has been doing, and he will be fine.



Well, I am off to bed shortly as more cleaning beckons tomorrow, especially as hubby is now doing overtime tomorrow.

Still waiting - what a surprise!!!!!

So, after the promises that we definitely have our letters by this weekend just gone - that was Saturday 12th February, 2011....................and to no-ones great surprise they did not arrive. We have now been told that they are hopeful we will have more information by mid March !!!!!!!!!!!



Any information would be nice, and I don't like to point out, but having checked with ACAS and the TUC, when changes to a contract of employment are made, one months notice must be given. As the changes are supposed to kick in on the 1st April 2011, mid March does not quite make it!!!


So, we are still waiting. All we want to know is what we are going to get paid for doing the job, that I for one love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

News Update and a good weekend

Well firstly I suppose I should update you all on the gallbladder saga, as Thursday was 'D' day and I finally had my appointment at the hospital to hopefully get things moving forward, and I am pleased to say, that progression has been made. I did not see the consultant himself (really, don't they know who I am), but the next person down (don't really understand medical hierarchy), and she confirmed that I do need surgery.

She was very thorough, having read all through my rather extensive medical history, and also noted that I had had investigations for a pain in my side about 5 years ago, and agreed with me, that this was probably the start of the gallstones, though the problem all along has been, apparently, that my symptoms are not typical.........pain is sort of in the wrong place. But the ultra sound has confirmed the presence of gallstones, so the gall bladder is coming out!!! So now I am on the waiting list. Now, the normal waiting list is 18 weeks...............ok, I know we get this free (well, we do pay, those of us that work / have worked - don't want to have a dig at the retired here), but I pointed it out I was unlikely to be able to put up with the constant pain for 18 weeks, so I am now on the short notice waiting list. Hopefully it should only be about 12 weeks, and I might get really lucky and get a cancellation!!!! People cancel do they???

So with this is mind I have had my pre-op assessment, weighed, measured, blood pressure, blood test and swabbed for MRSA (can't have the op with MRSA - you have to be treated for that first if you have it.............hope I don't!) and so now all I have to do is wait for a date..........fingers crossed!

And now onto the good weekend. We are in Six Nations season at the moment, as last week hubby suggested that as we were both off yesterday, we go to the England vs Italy game at Twickenham, and so we did. We had to leave home at 08.45, so as to catch the bus to High Wycombe, to catch the bus to Slough, to catch the bus to Windsor, to catch the train to Twickenham, but the only part of this journey that we had to pay for was the train bit, so we got to Twickenham and back for the grand sum of £7.20 each, as the buses were all free....courtesy of the magic pass!!

Anyway, we got to Twickenham about 11.30 and had the bargain of getting a free pie and pint from O2 (glad we get something for free from them, considering how much we pay them each month!), or as hubby said, the text we had to send to get the code, probably cost us £9, but beer and food were very good. Then into the stadium to watch the game. We were lucky to be able to see both teams arriving and then settled into our seats - this is the view we had. The game was very good and England played a good game, and to the delight of the home crowd, they won.

Below are a couple more pics, both teams during the national anthems and the final score!!!

And on a final note.............still no news on the changes at work. We were promised that by this weekend, which as there is no post on Sunday, has to mean Saturday, we would have our letters; and guess what......no letter. What a huge surprise........not!

The Day has dawned

Yes, today is the day................at 14.40 I finally have my appointment to see the quack at the hospital about the gallstones, and getting them removed.


Have come to the conclusion I have now been in constant pain since before Christmas, with pain killers and alcohol (and together the effect is even better) only dulling the pain. This week and last week have been particularly bad..............feel like I have a large knife stuck in my side........so my sense of humour has been in hibernation!!!!!


I am currently not sleeping much and popping pills like there is no tomorrow................codeine is the current drug of choice, but even this cannot take the pain away completely.


So all I can say is I hope surgery is on the agenda sooner rather than later, as I am not going to be able to put up with this much longer without doing someone a serious injury!!!!!


I shall let you know how it goes!

Gotta laugh - otherwise I would slit my wrists!!

The government has stated that it hopes that the private sector will cover the jobs lost in the public sector because of 'THE CUTS'. Who are they kidding???? Now I have to confess, I voted for the current government, and despite belonging to a Union, I have never voted for the Labour Party. At heart, I guess I am a Tory - if you work hard for your money, then you deserve to keep it!! The Labour party policy that everyone is the same - NO THEY ARE F*&KING NOT! - is just bollocks, and it is thanks to them that we have children growing up in households where two or three generations have never worked!!


Anyway, rant aside (I blame the beer that I am consuming while watching the rugby!), the current government are busy slashing the public sector workforce and they vainly hope that the private sector will pick up the shortfall. Added to which, taxes are rising and even if you are lucky enough not to have a pay cut, most people are not getting a pay rise, so in real terms, they are also getting a pay cut. Now I know we need to do something, but the economy, while not actually shrinking at the moment, is also not growing. People are not recruiting, so what is going to happen to all those public sector workers who have lost their jobs...............yes, they will start claiming benefits. And is not the massive welfare budget part of the bloody problem in the first place?????



I have a job..............and I love my job. In the sixteen months I have had this job, I have never once thought, I don't fancy going to to work today. I get paid for my job and it is already known that we are not going to get a pay rise for at least the next two years. I don't have a problem with this, I would rather have a job than a pay rise. But as of the 1st January, VAT went up to 20% - from 17.5%. Not a huge rise, but enough. Now lots of things do not have VAT on them, food for one.............but have food costs stayed the same..............no! And this is because while there is no VAT of food, the cost of actually producing food has gone up due to other factors, like the cost fuel!! Petrol now cost in the region of £1.29 a litre...........it costs me over £60 to fill my car up, and as I have a 50 mile round trio to work, I use a fair bit of the stuff.



When the government started with 'THE CUTS', it stated that certain things were going to be ring fenced - ie not touched. The NHS for one....................one of the most wasteful organisations on the planet, but yeap, ok, as a person waiting to have surgery, I am glad I am not going to get the bill at the end, or that I don't have to pay into a private health plan each week/month. And can you guess what the other one was.....................OVERSEAS AID!!! ARE THEY HAVING A FUCKING LAUGH??????? So here am I, no pay rise (am grateful to have a job), being taxed to within an inch of my life (I am sure I can survive on a jacket potatoes and baked bean only diet) and yet my taxes (which appear to be growing by the day) are going to help people who live in countries that a run by corrupt regimes whose dictators have stripped the countries wealth for their own means. Come on Mr Cameron, share the wealth...............but can you please start at home -excluding the labour party and their supporters, coz they got us into this bloody mess in the first place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still no news - good or bad?????

As I ultimately work for the government, when they announced massive public sector spending cuts, it was going to effect us. We had months of waiting around, trying to remain positive though occasionally giving in to the doom and gloom merchants, while we had to wait an see exactly how much of slice of the pie had been reduced by. Well in October, the Government announced a figure................sort of, and we are still waiting!!!


Some police forces took drastic action as soon as public sector cuts were announces, and as police staff are often the not so visible face of policing, they were in line for the majority of the cuts. For example, Durham Police sent out redundancy warning notices to ALL their police staff last July, at least three months before any kind of figure was announced. TVP chose to wait, more or less, until a figure had been announced, before announcing what is going to happen, and as of yet no large scale redundancies have happened. But what has happened is that they have looked at how we are paid, and changed it. The reason they have given is to make it fairer, but let's be realistic, it is cost cutting and it would be nice if they could just be honest!!


I, and a lot of other staff are paid as followed; basic salary (quite low compared to comparable private sector jobs) and shift allowance (to make up for the fact we cover shifts 24/7, 365 days a year), both of which are paid automatically each month. We then get what is called weekend enhancement - you work a weekend, you get extra again and this has to be claimed. This means that you only get your weekend enhancement when you actually work a weekend, so taking annual leave at a weekend (remember annual leave, statutory right etc, etc), actually costs you money. Also, the way the shift pattern falls that my team work, we have three weekends off in a row, meaning that your monthly salary can fluctuate by several hundred pounds.


Anyway, as part of the restructuring of our pay, our weekend allowance is now going to be paid automatically. Now we are all realistic enough to know that we will probably be losing a bit here, but in the interests of actually having the same pay on a monthly basis, we are happy with this. But as well as now paying our weekend allowance automatically, they have reviewed all the shift allowances as well, and as a result, everyone who is effected is getting a letter saying how much you are going to gain (not many people have had these) or how much you are going to lose (most people have had these). There were various meeting and emails sent round in November and December, explaining what was happening and we were told that we would get a letter explaining how we would be individually affected, and these were being sent out in December.


So, sure enough, we all got a letter, which arrived on Christmas Eve. So for the majority of staff who are actually seeing their pay cut, what a lovely Christmas present..............but at least they got their letter. All my team got was a letter stating that as of the 1st April 2011 our terms and conditions of employment would be changing (got to give us three months notice of that by law!), and we'll write to you in January with the exact details. Oh, and if you have any questions, please contact this person. WHAT A FARCE!!!!! It is now the 4th February 2011, and so far, still no letter. I haven't bothered to try an contact anyone, but colleagues who have, have had to resort to threatening to email the Chief Constable to actually get anyone to respond, and then they don't know the answers. Our poor supervisor, every time we see him, he has been met with a barrage of complaints about the lack of info, and give him his due, he has tried to get us answers, but even he is not having much luck.


The frustrating thing is that we just want to know. We know we won't be getting any pay rises for the next two years, so due to rising costs, this is a pay cut in real terms. But on top of this, is our pay going down, staying the same, or will we be some of the lucky few and it actually go up. At this rate, we might actually know by the 1st April, but I am not holding my breath!!!