Passing through, or what we did on our holiday - part 1

We've been away visiting family in Nottinghamshire. Did you miss me? Nope, thought not. So to make your heart grow fonder I will be off again next weekend for another week.

FIL's garden is doing a good interpretation of a tropical rainforest. Dad and I are going to sort it out - or, at least, that's the theory.

Hopefully it won't cause me too many aches and pains for the Race for Life on 13th July.

Where are we supposed to find the money?

Petrol/diesel is at an all-time high. Everyone is feeling the pinch from this. It affects all of our lives. The wholesale prices of goods goes up as it costs more to get them from the manufacturers/producers to the retail outlets. Taxi and bus fares will rise, if they haven't already.

Mortgage rates are rising. The deals that were around at Christmas just aren't there anymore. Prices are beginning to fall. Anyone coming to the end of a mortgage deal is going to find the new monthly payment a shock, if they can find anyone prepared to offer them a mortgage at all. If your house has dropped in value since you took out your last deal you will struggle to find another lender willing to offer you a big enough mortgage to cover what you owe. And don't get me started on Council Tax!

Today we are warned that gas and electricity prices could rise by 40% this winter. No, not £40, 40%. If your yearly bills come to £1000 now, you could find they rise to £1400 by this time next year! On top of all the other financial squeezes above a lot of people are going to suffer.

Pensioners are on a low fixed income. Where are they going to find that sort of money? The same goes for those on the various Carers/Disabled allowances. Even those of us who have, until the last few months, been ok are going to find it hard.

As people start spending less in the shops, then some shops and businesses are going to fail. Their employees will lose their jobs, adding to the numbers of those who have to decide whether to have a hot meal or enough hot water for a wash!

I've been complaining to friends for a while that in the last 5 years my food bill has doubled. The contents of my trolley haven't changed that much. Yet the government would have us believe that inflation has been below 2.5%! So I've been investigating where it gets its figures from.

The Office of National Statistics publishes the Retail Price Index (RPI) each month. There are different versions of the RPI depending on whether you want mortgage interest payments and/or indirect taxation such as that on fuel/cigarettes/alcohol etc. The relevant link is
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=21 or to find out what is included and why go to http://www.statistics.gov.uk/elmr/04_07/downloads/ELMR_April07_Wingfield.pdf

I don't have time to read it and give you the summary today. I'll come back to it soon.

More Governmental U-Turns

The Irish voted a big fat "No" to the Lisbon Treaty, meaning that the Treaty was dead in the water. The legislation surrounding the treaty stated that it HAD to be ratified by all 27 member states. The Irish are the only Europeans to be given a referendum on this, thanks to it being written into their constitution. So you'd think that, thanks to the Irish vote, the Treaty would be finished.

Within hours members of the French and German governments were saying that they would be investigating ways to continue with the Treaty and come to some 'legal' accommodation with the Irish. In other words, they're going to continue with it anyway. And politicians wonder why nobody trusts them.

Yesterday's papers reported that Gordon Brown had already spoken to these members to confirm that the UK's ratification process would continue. Today's papers say that Gordon Brown is going to tell the EU that the Treaty cannot be ratified.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4138792.ece

I don't suppose there's any chance of us being given a referendum, as we were promised in the last election campaign? Thought not.


Following my rant about not being able to supplement your NHS cancer treatment with privately bought medicines (which aren't available on the NHS) imagine my surprise to read this in today's Times

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article4138315.ece

Yes, our government has once again made a knee-jerk response and then U-turned under the weight of public opinion. You'd think by now they'd learn to think a little.

This week's round-up

I thought I'd write one long post instead of several smaller ones.

D's last GCSE exam was on Thursday afternoon. Technically he is now finished with compulsory education, even though the official leaving date for Yr 11's is 30th June. He's planning to spend the next 3 months being lazy - apart from the two weeks work experience next month - but he can plan again. I've told him that he is going to be improving his domestic science skills.

Sea Scouts had invited D along last night to give it a go. I must stop calling it sea scouts though as it's really Explorers. During the day K decided she'd like to try to, so at 6.15 yesterday evening we were down at the quayside. I introduced the kids to one of the organisers and that was the last I had to do with it till they came back at 8.15 ish. K was ecstatic - she'd been allowed to helm the boat - and had a dreamy expression on her face. D came back with a broad grin. Malcolm (organiser) had taken them out in a Wayfarer and introduced them to the art of sails and rudder - many thanks Malcolm. K accidentally crashed into a wooden piling but blamed the boys for not telling her it was there. No damage was done. They both can't wait till next Friday evening.

The results of my patch-testing were a bit of an anti-climax. I reacted quite well to balsam of peru - no I'd never heard of it either - and fragrances. The suncream set were normal! So it seems I can slap it on with gay abandon, making sure it is fragrance-free - no more tacky coconut-smelling gunk. This morning I took the dog a walk and slapped some suncream on my face and arms. So far, so good. No redness, itching, runny eyes. Yet this same product (as in it's the same tube) made my face go all hot and red last year. Confused? Yeah, me too.

I have an appointment for January to see Mr Arden-Jones, my wonderful dermatologist, to schedule another session of 'medical microwaving'. A and I have discussed this and decided that, for now, the benefits outweigh the risks. I get a P(M)LE rash every year but I may never get malignant melanoma, even though my chances are somewhere around 1-30 to 1-40. Apart from a little outbreak in May my rash is behaving itself quite nicely this year. You watch, now I've jinxed msyelf and will look like a bad measles outbreak till October.

Almost forgot to tell you about the compliment I was paid by friends on Thursday. Bearing in mind my skin issues, particularly on my face, and the fact that only use water on it - no make-up, no cleanse/tone/moisturise - I was pleasantly surprised to be told my skin is looking really good. Apparently I am glowing with health and they can tell I've lost weight.

One down, one to go

My little boy, D, sat his last GCSE this afternoon. He's now technically finished compulsory education, though the official finishing date for Yr 11s is 30th June.

I've already warned him that although he has no studying to do, he needn't think he's lying in bed till lunchtime or playing on the computer all day. I'd like to be kept in chocolate brownies and muffins, he can help in the garden and do chores, oh and he can keep dipping into the relevant A-level books on the shelf in the dining room. And if he can find himself paid employment he's excused all of the above.

Evil? Moi?

If you asked D how he thought the Home Education had gone for the past 4 years and whether it was worth it, you'd get a resounding yes! He's a happy soul and ready to face whatever the world throws at him. Tomorrow he's going to Explorers (Sea Scouts for older kids) and is planning, subject to him earning the money, some sailing holidays in the next 12 months - without parents.

Self-experimentation

Yesterday I had all my sticky patches removed - talk about a free NHS back wax! There were a few possibly/maybe pink patches of skin but nothing raised or itchy. In fact it itched most where the sticky stuff had been.

The upper section of patches that had been UVA blasted on Tuesday lunchtime are refusing to react. So this evening, being the inquisitive mare that I am, I decided to slap some of my sun cream on the right hand side of my face. It's been on for 45 minutes now and I've spent maybe 4 - 5 minutes standing in what is left of the day's sun and it just feels slightly prickly. NO streaming eyes, NO red, hot skin! Think I might have to try again tomorrow and make sure I get plenty of rays on it. It's only last year that my face would react quite quickly to sun cream.

I should be happy, but it was because of this problem that they had me in for patch testing in the first place! AArghh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Forgot to add, yesterday

Two weeks ago I went for an eye test at Tesco. I am long-sighted apparently, hence why things get more blurred as the day progresses. Yesterday they phoned up to say my specs were in so on the way to the hospital we called in to collect them.

I tried them on and boy was it weird! Everything close up seemed clearer, things slightly further away seemed magnified. The chap who was making sure all was well started rattling on about general wear, to which I replied that these glasses were only for close work - reading and computer screen. A was disturbed to realise that I could still see him quite clearly 10 feet away, slightly magnified but clear nontheless. Apparently he should have been very blurred (he has glasses for the same thing). Then this chap checked the notes on my card with the strength on the ticket that came with the glasses and discovered that some muppet had made the lenses too weak! So now I have to wait even longer.

Grrr!!!!!!!!!!!