Category: personal

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Normal

Hels and I have had tests this week. Apparently we are normal. This, evidently, is good news.
Make up your own jokes here.

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Music gremlin

For reasons known only to the little gremlins that inhabit my skull, I’ve had Airport by The Motors on my brain all morning. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not.

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Yarn

Text message from my brother:

Dad is telling the tale of when he went for a job interview for projectionist at the Odeon cinema! Another tale I had never heard before…

Nope, nor me. Dad has a habit of recounting tales from his youth, including such gems as

  • "When Tiddler Tom and I tried to blow up the pipe mines under the road at Spark’s Corner by throwing matches down them"
  • "The slit trench I dug in the parents’ garden with only a teaspoon" (or was it a toothpick?)
  • "The day they tied the apprentices’ bikes to the gas holder at Argyle Road" (my personal favourite)
  • "The day that I was chased by the police through Felpham" (absolute classic – Dad was on his bike and the policeman commandeered a car in order to give chase – bear in mind that this was the 1940s, so picture something from the Keystone Cops)
  • etc.

It looks like we have another one for the list – I hope Tim was taking notes.
I really ought to write these tales down, perhaps publish them here, although it has to be said that half the fun of Dad’s storytelling is the sight and sound of him laughing so hard that he can barely speak, turning beetroot red, with tears running down his face. That and the fact that a two sentence story gets extended (embellished and exaggerated) so that it takes upwards of thirty minutes to relate.

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Good news and bad

Well, the good news is that I’ve completed my tax return in time and will post it today. I was getting into a bit of a pickle, but a quick call to my accountant sorted out the problem I had and put my mind at rest – that’s what I pay him for, I guess.
The bad news is that I owe the Inland Revenue some money. Bah! If I’d got my finger out and done my return earlier, I could have had it taken from my tax code and paid in small amounts through the year. Instead, I’ll have to pay it all now. That’ll teach me.
Thankfully, PFE owes me some money, so I can jiggle funds around and cover the bill.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that if you haven’t done your tax return, DROP EVERYTHING AND DO IT NOW!

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Review

Oh blimey! There are only a few hours to go, most of which will be spent in the pub next door, and I haven’t written my end of year review yet! OK, time pressures mean it’ll be bullet points:

    Highlights, in roughly chronological order:

  • my trip to Saumur
  • birthday trip to Lisboa
  • the grand tour of the low countries
  • selling my flat
  • finally getting to live full-time with Hels
  • the grand tour of Germany
  • getting married! (obviously!)
  • the honeymoon in Sicily
  • getting our own home in Ruralville
  • kittens!
    Lowlights:

  • not selling Hels’s flat
  • generally not having enough money or time for all the things we want to do
  • ummm… that’s about it really

All in all, 2004 has been excellent. PFE continues to plod along, family are healthy and happy (mostly!) and I married the perfect girl for me. You can’t ask for much more than that really.
Happy New Year to you. Come back to the same place this time next year for another exciting annual review!

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Home is where the blog is

I’m sitting in our conservatory, happily blogging in a wireless stylee. I’ve not tested it yet, but I reckon I’ll be able to log into my wireless LAN in the pub. Then I’ll be really happy.
Life is gradually settling down in Graybo Towers. We’ve repainted the lounge, stairway and both bedrooms. The house has been furnished cheaply but stylishly. The new sexy sofas have been ordered and will be delivered in the new year. We’ve got countless jobs still to do on our new home, but we’re getting there. We are both very tired, but we’ve been helped a lot by our family, and we finally managed to relax in our new home this evening – meatballs in tomato sauce, a bottle of Vinho Verde from our trip earlier this year to Lisboa and some lovely music – all by candlelight on our new table. All this coupled with waking up this morning to the view of the horses in the field across the road as well as the peace and solitude of our rural retreat. It feels like our home.

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and a half

It’s my half birthday today – six months from May 12th, six months to May 12th. Send all your half birthday cards to the usual address.
Which means I missed out on my thirty-three-and-a-thirdth birthday. Bah!