Moans, Groans & Grub!

There is a rule of thumb which says that if you haven’t got anything nice to say then you shouldn’t say anything at all. So basically, keep your mouth tightly shut. If this is so then I shouldn’t really be doing a blog today because I certainly haven’t got anything good to report, quite the opposite in fact. I struggled to string a post together on Wednesday then ending up by ranting on for ages. This won’t be the case today and I apologise in advance for the fact that this posting will be will be brief and most certainly dull.

And so we end the week with more doom and gloom, an official recession, grey skies and still jobless. I had yet another job rejection letter in the post this morning which did nothing to improve my pre-weekend mood. You may think that every day is a weekend day with us being out of work but in fact we do tend to stay away from our laptops and avoid job applications where possible. Not that there are many jobs out there, mind you. I am applying for anything and everything and Phil is sticking to the technical websites. He’s getting calls from agents but he either hasn’t got the right skill set or he hasn’t used the software for a long time. I am beginning to get worried, but Phil forever the optimist, is still hopeful that a well-paid interesting post will fall out of the sky and drop directly into his email box. I wish I had his self belief and optimism.

Phil eventually took his land rover in to get the brake pads fixed. The garage only charged 80 quid and gave him a 2007 black Ford KA for the day, which I though was very good service. I have been nagging him to get his brakes done ever since we got back from Goa. My KA is still playing up and I must take this to the garage and get it sorted once and for all.

Yesterday as Phil & I sat across the table whilst trawling the website for jobs, we spotted out of the window, an official looking man with a clipboard taking pictures of all the sky dishes erected on the external walls in the blocks surrounding the communal green area. As we were watching he suddenly turned round to our block and immediately spotted our enormous aerial standing proudly on the top of our block. Of course he took a photo and now we are worried that we will be asked to take it down which will mean no more Sky Vision and no internet. We knew it was against the leasehold laws when we paid the aerial man to put it up but we figured with all the other illegal sky dishes and aerials, it wouldn’t matter. I agree that they make the buildings look even uglier but then the council should have made some provision for future communications when they built the flats. We certainly won’t take our aerial down without a fight and if MKCC wish to fight me then they have picked the wrong person. Bring it on!

Fed up with soups and baked potatoes we took ourselves off to the carvery at Peartree Bridge for lunch yesterday. Unfortunately we arrived just after a van carrying a group of old age pensioners and Phil was chapping at the bit to push past them. I have to admit they were slow and taking ages to get into the main restaurant but I made Phil wait in line and help the carers hold open the doors. Luckily we beat them to the queue for the carvery which cheered Phil up no end!

Phil slept in this morning; he did wake up at 4am because he needed the loo but luckily for him, he managed to go back to sleep. I must have dozed off too but I was awakened a bit later by the puppy yapping and thumping around in the flat above. Now I know for sure they have a pet but I’m undecided what to do about this yet. It’s not giving me too much grief as yet and I don’t want to appear mean and vindictive. Especially as I speak I can see one of the many crack heads that live nearby outside with his two staff’s fighting practically right outside our lounge window. I see that whilst is he watching his 2 horrible dogs he is chatting to another crack head in the block to our left of us, who is smoking and swigging beer from a can whilst practically hanging out of his window. This is the same guy that Phil saw earlier chucking his empty cans out of the window onto the grass which is the same grass that I campaigned for the council to clean up just before Christmas. Now I wonder why I bothered; I tell you, people around here have no respect for the environment they live in.

We didn't have food to cook so we decided to go The Giffard as they currently have an offer of 2 meals for £5. Phil went to the cashpoint at the shop and as I was sat waiting in the car, Emma bounded up along with Kai that she'd just picked up from pre-school. I haven't seen her since before Christmas and she took take great delight informing me that Ash our tenant had a new girlfriend who has an 8 yr old son. Apparently they stay at our old house most weekends. It'd nice to know what is going on in the cul-de-sac but sometimes you can have too much information. Emma has been going to weight watchers and has lost 10 pounds since christmas which is fantastic and I thought she looked very well. We waved Emma off and got to the pub and were the first ones through the door. Phil had lasagne and garlic bread and I had tipsy beef pie with peas and chips and very nice it was too.

We have no firm plans for the weekend. Tonight I shall try my hardest to stay up for the Big Brother finale and tomorrow Phil is cooking liver & bacon casserole with onion gravy and a big pot of mash potatoes and greens. Comfort food that will do nothing for my waistline but hopefully may help improve my miserable mood.