Old Posts

I have just downloaded the Blogger app onto my Nexus 7 in the hope that I will do more therapeutic blogging. In doing so I have just found a few blogs started but never published. My life story really, but maybe as it is on my Nexus now I may write AND publish a few more. It is surprising looking back  at words and thoughts I have penned over the last couple of years,  they read as if they are another person, maybe they are....

A Few Festive Thoughts

Christmas - a festival I have come to dread over the years , the stress associated with two days holiday has proved far too much for me. Everyone is expected to be jolly but for me,  it is just another couple of days just cooped  up in the house with crap tv.  The build up  trying to buy presents for people who have far more money than me and just buy what they want, when they want and children with high expectations as they compare their lot with their friends. They seem to have uber rich friends whose parents spend £100's of pounds on them or are they just plain daft over compensating for the lack interaction with them for the remaining 364 days of the year ? Anyway, enough of my grumpiness.

For me Christmas was always a happy time, I love the sparkling lights and the smell of real Christmas trees, logs burning on the fire and toasting chestnuts or crumpets at the fireside while watching Morecombe and Wise Christmas Specials or black and white classic films. This year though I think I will make a special effort. My sister decks her house beautifully , going overboard with greenery, lights and candles. I asked her why she does it all as it takes ages to prepare. Her reply was that she does it for herself, not for her children or anyone else, just for her. She too likes to slip into a world  where commercialisation doesn't exist and it makes HER feel happy. Thus year I will follow her mantra and do the same for myself.  

So today I am off the the small garden centre to buy myself a real Christmas tree and I will deck the halls with ivy and holly. I am sure my daughters will appreciate my efforts and hopefully will pass it on to their children too.

Better Late Than Never

Good morning. It's been a while since I have been here , I seem to spend more time reading other blogs than writing my own these days, but I have decided that if I only make one resolution this year then it will be to visit here more often. 

While trawling my Twitter feed this morning I came across a great little blog/site called @HistoricalSauces. An interesting name, immediately catching my attention to find out more about them. On clicking on the site, it was linked to a vintage hairdressing evening based in Norwich. a workshop on how to create 40's style hairstyles accompanied with food and drink. What a great idea. If I had a suitable hair I would have loved to have gone to that, so it is defintiely on my list of things to watch out for.  Another tweet about Biddy's Tea Shop in Norwich was also on there. Again a lovely tea shop not long opened in Norwich which is decorated in true British vintage style, lots of old china and nicknacks. Certainly a place for me to visit very soon and I shall report back.

There is so much to read and see out there and I could happily waste my days and evenings clicking around finding out new and wonderful little gems ( all in the name of research for my own little gem of course). 

Enough for now as reality beckons and time for me to start my day....

And Another Thing .....

Oops I found this today, I obviously forgot to press "publish" Doh !  Better late than never I suppose.....


I was thinking about blogging again today as I was sat in a traffic jam. Having signed in just now I am amazed to see that is it almost a year since I have written anything here. Not that I don't have anything to say, but not sure if anyone is interested in reading it. But what does that matter? It is cathartic to empty one's mind and just let the words flow, no one to interrupt and it doesn't matter if no one is listening as I will never know !

It has been an odd day, daughter number one is away and so I have no school run to do, freeing up and extra hour and no need to rush out of bed.  Listening to the radio Chris Moyles has announced his departure from the early morning show after 8 and a half years. I love listening  to him in the morning. I love the chatter, it doesn't matter to me that he doesn't play much music. It is like listening to a group of friends chat - idle banter and I am included in that through the radio.  There is always something to laugh at, my daughters often her me laughing away and what is great they love to listen to the early  morning crew too . I was disappointed that rumours were true that he was finally calling it a day and my thoughts went to what the others will do - nothing has been said about them as yet.  The announcement of his successor came at 10.30 in Fearne's show - Nick Grimshaw ( Grimmy) a surprise, but it shouldn't have been, the favourite, Greg James (my daughters' fave ) had only just taken over drive time , but he must be a future contender for the show. Grimmy has been covering Scott Mills' slot recently and though while amusing is not really in the same league as Chris Moyles and his crew.  Grimmy is more famous for his famous friends rather than his radio programme, but I shall wait and see.

More ways to while away the boredom.......

I am one of those statistics banded about in the news at the moment - one of the 'underemployed'. We are those people who work part time but are actively looking to increase their hours of paid work. I spend time each day looking at different types of media, waiting for that light bulb moment for inspiration on how to increase my income through gainful employment.  Whilst ploughing through the internet via Hoosuite, Tumblr and now Pinterest, Google Reader, LinkedIn I come across all sorts of information that I wonder how on earth did I live without before.  The rub is, while I may be well informed about what is going on in the world out there, it does take an enormous amount of time and time is not something I have a great of (and I only work part time !).

Today is no exception, whilst there has not been a lightbulb moment I have managed to organise my work contacts more effectively, solved an ongoing IT issue and discovered a whole new world to look at in www.nigella.com and so Christmas food is also sorted too !  I just need to do my Christmas shopping online too now.

Is media killing the art of conversation?

More and more these days there are ways to commit our thoughts to the page and publish into the world, just as I am doing right now. In many ways this is a good thing, we can have an insight what is going on in other people's minds, especially those we do not know personally. But more and more it appears to me, and is certainly happening in my experience, that it is replacing conversation between those closest to you. No longer are thoughts expressed in person or by phone, by text or Msn which is a personal communication written or spoken just to you, it is posted on Facebook or Twitter for all the world to see and making it a less personal communication. Having said all this on here, I shall chat about it to my daughters and seek their view on this thought and maybe I shall write about the outcome and share with whoever, if anyone ever reads these random thoughts ...

Safe Mode

Having had a calamity and dropped my phone while getting out a very uncomfortable van the other week , life since been a constant chore. It is unbelievable how I have become so reliant on my phone to keep in contact with the world. Yes, I relied on it before having the Blackberry but in just three and a half months I have grown to rely on it for almost everything in organising my life. So you can imagine a phone that only works when it feels like it makes for very frustrating days indeed !

To make things worse, I rang Orange and admitted that I had dropped the phone. Apparently not the done thing to admit to. I am too honest as well now, along with allegedly being technically challenged ! As soon as I had said I had dropped the phoned I was promptly transferred to the " Damage Team " who were not interested in anything that I had to say other than I had to pay £133 for them to just swap the phone for another. In the meantime I contacted a Blackberry repair specialist, who despite numerous phone calls over a period of a week have even failed to get the envelope to me to send the phone off to them to repair ! What would happen if I did send the phone off - would it even get there ? The silver lining could be I get a new phone anyway I suppose if they lose it !

In the meantime I have done 2 Factory resets and it has worked intermittently in the meantime The phone freezes at intervals but not always on the same function. Sometimes it is texts other times Facebook . So it does not seem to be an application fault. The phone required constant rebooting. I have spent hours on the internet trying to resolve the problem but with no avail. Today I am trying to operate in safe mode and so far so good, but this only means that it is an application fault, I have only factory set applications on the phone now, so logic tells me that it is a software issue and not a physical one as a result of the phone being dropped. But the million dollar question is - which one ? Well this is my logic and I shall continue to use in safe mode for a reasonable time before going back to Orange to try to speak to Technical support rather than someone who is only interested in getting my money from me without listening to the problem.

A question I am asking myself - why is safe mode working ? What is different to normal mode ? I still have the same apps running as before going into safe mode and it is behaving .... Answers on Twitter please !