It is the quiet time of year. Those days between Christmas and New Year when you can kick back and relax, and prepare for the drab and dull month that is January.
Christmas Day went the way that it usually does. I was woken at the crack of dawn by my other half (who is a big kid when it comes to Christmas). I'm not exaggerating the early hour... 6am. So we did the present thing... which occasioned wrapping paper everywhere. Even the cat was not forgotten, although generally she is more interested in balled up pieces of wrapping paper than the actual gifts she gets!
The highlight of the day (apart from the presents) was lunch, of which, as always there was far too much. Nobody really seems to cater for two person households when it comes to food... which I find bizarre as there are plenty of us out there! Somehow in amongst all this I still managed to fit in two naps! There is always time to sleep!
The next couple of days were spent very quietly. Eating, drinking and so forth. We were off to see my folks on Friday. This in itself proved to be an unexpected debacle! The car hasn't been feeling that wanted the last few months. The whole time I wasn't well I didn't drive at all. The first occasion that I decided to take the car out once I was better it was discovered that the battery was flat. This little episode drove from my mind the reports I had read about possible fuel protests (as there were back in 2000). I had meant to fill the car up with fuel at that time and never got around to it. So, Friday morning we are off to my parents (who live around 40 miles away) and there is no petrol in the car. We go to the BP garage on the Woolwich Road. As we pull in the first pumps we see all have their unleaded pumps out of action. In fact it turns out that all the unleaded pumps are out of action. Next stop Sainsbury's on the Peninsula. As we draw in we notice signs up stating that there is no unleaded. Oh dear. Next stop Asda. Same story no unleaded. My imagination is beginning to run out - most local Petrol stations have shut down and been turned into blocks of flats. We slip onto the A2 and run up to the Sun-in-Sands where I irritate all the traffic by suddenly turning left as I remember that there is a petrol station just near the eponymous pub. Hurrah. They have unleaded... at the frankly horrifying price of over a pound per litre. Argh! So I fill the tank and we make it down to Kent (where the petrol is even more astronomical prices).
It is soon going to be extremely uneconomic to run a car (especially an older car). What with road tax (which I'm sure the Government will soon be raising) and MOTs and insurance and petrol. Using an Oystercard to get the bus has never been a better idea!
Christmas Day went the way that it usually does. I was woken at the crack of dawn by my other half (who is a big kid when it comes to Christmas). I'm not exaggerating the early hour... 6am. So we did the present thing... which occasioned wrapping paper everywhere. Even the cat was not forgotten, although generally she is more interested in balled up pieces of wrapping paper than the actual gifts she gets!
The highlight of the day (apart from the presents) was lunch, of which, as always there was far too much. Nobody really seems to cater for two person households when it comes to food... which I find bizarre as there are plenty of us out there! Somehow in amongst all this I still managed to fit in two naps! There is always time to sleep!
The next couple of days were spent very quietly. Eating, drinking and so forth. We were off to see my folks on Friday. This in itself proved to be an unexpected debacle! The car hasn't been feeling that wanted the last few months. The whole time I wasn't well I didn't drive at all. The first occasion that I decided to take the car out once I was better it was discovered that the battery was flat. This little episode drove from my mind the reports I had read about possible fuel protests (as there were back in 2000). I had meant to fill the car up with fuel at that time and never got around to it. So, Friday morning we are off to my parents (who live around 40 miles away) and there is no petrol in the car. We go to the BP garage on the Woolwich Road. As we pull in the first pumps we see all have their unleaded pumps out of action. In fact it turns out that all the unleaded pumps are out of action. Next stop Sainsbury's on the Peninsula. As we draw in we notice signs up stating that there is no unleaded. Oh dear. Next stop Asda. Same story no unleaded. My imagination is beginning to run out - most local Petrol stations have shut down and been turned into blocks of flats. We slip onto the A2 and run up to the Sun-in-Sands where I irritate all the traffic by suddenly turning left as I remember that there is a petrol station just near the eponymous pub. Hurrah. They have unleaded... at the frankly horrifying price of over a pound per litre. Argh! So I fill the tank and we make it down to Kent (where the petrol is even more astronomical prices).
It is soon going to be extremely uneconomic to run a car (especially an older car). What with road tax (which I'm sure the Government will soon be raising) and MOTs and insurance and petrol. Using an Oystercard to get the bus has never been a better idea!