So, last night shift concluded this morning at 7am, and I made it home fairly swiftly and was in bed and asleep before 8m. Of course then I was woken by Santander at 8.39am!!!!! Who calls at 8.39am for gods sake?? Of course the lady couldn't tell me anything without taking me through security questions, which I was not about to do, having just been woken from a very deep sleep.......albeit, only about 50 minutes of it.
Anyway, back to sleep I went, only then to be woken by my alarm at midday...yawn! So, I stagger out of bed and off to Asda I head to get the stuff I need for my baking session. As per normal, Asda did not have everything that was on my list........this time it was cocoa. My last tub, Cadbury's, was purple.........you know, Dairy Milk colour, and all they had was Cadbury's Bournville, which as all chocolate experts know is the dark chocolate, red wrapping.....well the tub is red too. Well when I actually compared the contents, they appear the same, so I have to confess I am not sure what the difference is.
So, let the baking begin. I had to make a cheese and tomato quiche, a lemon and lime cheesecake, both for a party tomorrow and also a gugelhupf which hubby demanded. Gugelhupf is an Austrian cake, plain and chocolate, with a hole in the middle........it's lovely for breakfast!!!
So, pastry made and chilling, cake made and in the oven and I decide to switch the immersion on so I have hot water for washing up.
What I was not expecting was for there to be a popping sound and the light to go out. Bugger, that will be the immersion not working then. Not that I could do anything about it, as checking things like the fuse would involve turning the electric off, not a good idea with cake in the oven.
So, couple of hours later, cake baked, quiche made and cooked, cheese cake made, I was finally able to turn the electric off and change the fuse. Flick the switch carefully, with a cringe......and nothing happens. Oh yeah, might be an idea to turn to electric back on first.!!! So, power back on, and replay.......flick switch carefully and cringe..............and flash pop. That will be the fuse again, figure the thing must have a short.
So, a trip to B&Q is coming on for a new immersion. Luckily, they are only about £22 and according to the DIY book, they are quite simple to change.................after you have drained down the hot water tank that is!!! Glad we are on rates, not a meter. I had a shower this evening with the remains of the hot water............tepid now. Have to say, am not looking forward to washing my hair in cold water tomorrow.
Friday, 16 September 2011
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Hundreds and Thousands!!!
Now these two pictures below are how I remember hundreds and thousands of my childhood.
These are what Asda call hundreds and thousands. Sorry, I was not about to tip them all out, but can you spot the difference???
I'll help you............rainbow they are not!! They are pink, yellow, white and beige.
Beige?????? Since when was that a colour of the rainbow, what happened to green, blue???
To strike or not the strike...........that is the question?
The above title is my current status on facebook, as I have woken up this afternoon (I am currently on nights) to the following article on the BBC website.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14907909
So, I am a member of UNISON and hubby is a member of UNITE (yes, them of BA strikes ruining every ones hols, including nearly mine, in December 2009). Now I work in the public sector and hubby works in the private sector. So, according to the article, both unions are going to ballot their members on strike action!
Now last night, well the early hours of this morning, I was reading an article from my union, about the attacks that George Osborne (Chancellor) and Eric Pickles (Local Government Minister) are planning on the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). As a public sector employee, this is the scheme that I am in and I pay 6.5% of my salary into this. Now I don't remember all the arguments, but one thing I do remember is the the LGPS is self funding, and the government plans of increasing contributions, for less money at an later retirement age, will mean many will leave the scheme, so it will cease to be self funding, and then will end up costing the government more money.
Now I am not so against having to pay a bit more, I am not even so upset that I will be 67 by the time I retire, but I would like to get a decent pension at the end of it. It just shows that employment law in the country is not worth the paper it is written on. You have a contract of employment.............you work and in return you get certain benefits.......salary, pension, etc. But oh, if the government decides it wants to change this, you have no recourse, and if you dare to try an object, by striking say........you are 'deeply irresponsible'.
Anyway, apparently we are now going to be balloted to on strike action and now I am going to have to decide whether to strike or not. Striking sort of goes against everything I have been brought up to believe and hold dear, so my gut instinct is no. But, the unions have been attempting to negotiate with the government for some time now, and basically the government is not interested. God, I hate decisions like this.
And then there is hubbys union. Now hubby works in the private sector, does UNITE represent public sector workers ??? Or will it be a sympathy strike vote? Could be interesting as hubby has had one pay rise already this year and will get another one at the end of the year, and his company have not changed their final salary pension scheme.
Now, some of the comments on the BBC article are supportive and some are not..............and I have only read some of them. But what some of those who are critical should remember, when the comment that at least we have a job and pension, many public sector works don't have a job anymore, and many more of us are under threat, as the government as well as cutting our pensions, not allowing us a pay rise (and Local Government employees did not even get the £250 or what ever it was to help those on the lowest wages), is also cutting our jobs. I particularly like this comment:- 'They are paid as well for in many cases doing less work' Yeah, if I was doing this job in the private sector I would be paid more than I am on now thank you very much!!
But I feel a difficult decision coming on and I really do not have an inkling of what the answer is!!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14907909
So, I am a member of UNISON and hubby is a member of UNITE (yes, them of BA strikes ruining every ones hols, including nearly mine, in December 2009). Now I work in the public sector and hubby works in the private sector. So, according to the article, both unions are going to ballot their members on strike action!
Now last night, well the early hours of this morning, I was reading an article from my union, about the attacks that George Osborne (Chancellor) and Eric Pickles (Local Government Minister) are planning on the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). As a public sector employee, this is the scheme that I am in and I pay 6.5% of my salary into this. Now I don't remember all the arguments, but one thing I do remember is the the LGPS is self funding, and the government plans of increasing contributions, for less money at an later retirement age, will mean many will leave the scheme, so it will cease to be self funding, and then will end up costing the government more money.
Now I am not so against having to pay a bit more, I am not even so upset that I will be 67 by the time I retire, but I would like to get a decent pension at the end of it. It just shows that employment law in the country is not worth the paper it is written on. You have a contract of employment.............you work and in return you get certain benefits.......salary, pension, etc. But oh, if the government decides it wants to change this, you have no recourse, and if you dare to try an object, by striking say........you are 'deeply irresponsible'.
Anyway, apparently we are now going to be balloted to on strike action and now I am going to have to decide whether to strike or not. Striking sort of goes against everything I have been brought up to believe and hold dear, so my gut instinct is no. But, the unions have been attempting to negotiate with the government for some time now, and basically the government is not interested. God, I hate decisions like this.
And then there is hubbys union. Now hubby works in the private sector, does UNITE represent public sector workers ??? Or will it be a sympathy strike vote? Could be interesting as hubby has had one pay rise already this year and will get another one at the end of the year, and his company have not changed their final salary pension scheme.
Now, some of the comments on the BBC article are supportive and some are not..............and I have only read some of them. But what some of those who are critical should remember, when the comment that at least we have a job and pension, many public sector works don't have a job anymore, and many more of us are under threat, as the government as well as cutting our pensions, not allowing us a pay rise (and Local Government employees did not even get the £250 or what ever it was to help those on the lowest wages), is also cutting our jobs. I particularly like this comment:- 'They are paid as well for in many cases doing less work' Yeah, if I was doing this job in the private sector I would be paid more than I am on now thank you very much!!
But I feel a difficult decision coming on and I really do not have an inkling of what the answer is!!
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Traffic Lights
I was on my way to work last night, and as I am on nights, I get to park at the police station. So there I was, driving through Oxford, and I got thinking...........there are rather a lot of sets of traffic lights.
The distance from the M40, to the police station, is 9 miles, give or take the odd inch and do you know how many sets of lights I have to pass through???? On the way into Oxford, 25!!!!!!! On the way out, I do slightly better, there are only 23. This includes two pedestrian crossings whose default setting is red, that's red for cars and pedestrians.
So Oxford city council is always going on about the pollution levels in the city centre, so much so, that after banning everything but buses and taxis between 7.30am and 6pm, they would prefer that we all sat at a red traffic light, engine running, adding to the pollution, while no-one crosses the road.
I ask you!
When I was searching the web for a picture of traffic lights, I had to choose this one, as it has a first bus in it!!!
The distance from the M40, to the police station, is 9 miles, give or take the odd inch and do you know how many sets of lights I have to pass through???? On the way into Oxford, 25!!!!!!! On the way out, I do slightly better, there are only 23. This includes two pedestrian crossings whose default setting is red, that's red for cars and pedestrians.
So Oxford city council is always going on about the pollution levels in the city centre, so much so, that after banning everything but buses and taxis between 7.30am and 6pm, they would prefer that we all sat at a red traffic light, engine running, adding to the pollution, while no-one crosses the road.
I ask you!
When I was searching the web for a picture of traffic lights, I had to choose this one, as it has a first bus in it!!!
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