Weekend away.

Well, tomorrow I have taken a days leave, taking my three day week to a two day week.........I could get used to this! There is a reason for this, we are going away for the weekend to Centreparcs at Longleat for a family get together in celebration of my brothers 30th birthday and my nephews' 1st birthday, both of which fall in March. The beer has been purchased and it should be fun. Hubby has got to work, so I am going to take him to work, will then be getting everything ready, and then will collect him so we can go straight from Slough, rather than waiting for him to come home, which will add about an hour onto things.

Bit of not so good news the other day, my sister is in hospital, which is not so good. Nothing life threatening and nothing that I am going to expand on further, it is her illness, not mine, and so it is not my place to discuss it here. But it is times like these that it brings home to you how far we are away from each other. I would like nothing more than be able to go and help take care of my nephew and give my sister a big hug and let her know that her big sister is here for her, as and when she needs it. Although we can email, text and message, it is not the same as being there in person. All I can say, is roll on August so I will be there.

We had the census form through the other day. I filled it in at the time, get it out the way. Must remember to post it before we go away. Census day is this Sunday, and is based on who is in your property on Sunday. Well in reality, Amber will be the only one home, but there did not appear to be a section on the form for hamsters!!! So, I have filled in the required info as if we were here, and off it will. Just to set your mind at reat, a friend will be coming round to check Amber is ok while we are gone, so she will not be home alone!!

Hubby was pleased last week..............he got 'green' driver of the week. They have this monitoring system on their buses that registers what they do; braking, accelerating, changing lane, cornering etc. It is based on a traffic light system with green being good and red bad, the idea is that they have to stay below 20 (green), with every event they have being averaged out over the number of driving hours, to give score. The highest he has ever had is 39 (still in the amber level - 40 and above is red), and the best he has ever been is 3, but each week they have a 'green' driver of the week, which is the driver who has made the most improvement and has kept their score at a certain level. Well it is something like, all I know is he got his name on the noticeboard and got a £50 bonus!!!

Well, off to bed now I think.............I have a busy day tomorrow, getting things ready for going away

And the squeeze cometh!

Well, we finally had our letters..............only two months late, but as they say, better late than never and I have to say, that probably the wait was worth it. Many of the people who had their letters on time had mistakes; groups of people who work the same shift pattern all had different amounts, as their allowances were based on what they had worked last year, with no consideration made for holidays or shift changes that were done to help the organisation out. I am pleased to say that all my group have been given the same allowance, and based on what they said my allowance was last year, I have actually got a small pay rise. Now unfortunately it is not enough to actually make a difference as it will all be taken by the taxman, but at least it is not a pay cut!!!

So, no pay cut and I still have a job............for the time being! But the noose is being tightened from all directions. Petrol is now over £1.30 a litre, added to which, as of the 1st April, the Park and Ride sites in Oxford are going to be charging for parking. Only £1 a day, but as the whole idea is to keep cars out of the city centre, I think that county council are shooting themselves in the foot. Now I don't pay for the bus, but if I did, it is a minimum of £2.20 a day return, add a £1 to that and it soon adds up. People in this country are surgically attached to their cars, and the only way to pry them away from them, is to make it cheap and convenient for them not to use them. Oxford pioneered the Park and Ride system - first place in the country (bit if trivia for you), and it works very well. There are five sites on the edge of the city, with over 4,000 spaces and from about 7am to 7pm, the buses run every 15 minutes. Aside from the people that work in the city (and there are lots of us who use the Park and Ride because parking in the city centre is none existent and phenomenally expensive), there are all the many, many tourists who visit Oxford on a daily basis.

I know the councils are now getting less money, because basically the country is broke. I know we have to make savings, and in the great scheme of things £1 a day is not massive, though if you work five days a week, allowing for four weeks leave, that is £240 a year, on top of all the other price rises. I am already spending more and more on getting to work without this as well. Now, when I applied for the job I knew it was in Oxford, and I knew I lived in High Wycombe, and therefore I would have a 50 mile round trip. I did consider the costs, but since then petrol had shot through the roof and is continuing to rise and now I am going to have to pay for parking too.

Now here's a thought, perhaps I should give up work and claim benefits...............but isn't that what has got the country in the mess it is in, in the first place?????