The commuter’s life

After 3 weeks I finally got online so should be able to write the odd blog from now on. Claire has done a sterling job keeping everyone informed with all our action. It doesn’t suit me living this double life, home and away but I suppose that there are allot of people doing it. I am lucky really that I haven’t had to do it too much, especially as I have been contracting for 20 years. The only good thing about it is that it is quite efficient tax wise as there are so many things you can claim for before tax. Another guy started the same week as me and he is using an umbrella company and can claim £45 a night un-receipted along with £15 a day un-receipted meals. Ad d this to your 40p per mile petrol allowance, take a small wage and there is little left to pay tax on. Mainly because you have so many outlays but at least the tax man doesn’t take it. Mind you he needs it right now, with all this money the government are giving away to the banks etc.

I spent the first two weeks in the guest house that I showed in my last post, but unfortunately I couldn’t get online in my room and had to go down to the lounge. It was such a pain that I only did it when absolutely necessary. Last week, whilst reading a local rag over breakfast, I spotted a shared room that was about half the price of what I was paying in the guest house and I could stop all week for the same price if I wanted. I phoned during my break and arranged to view it after work. Its great, the room is a bit smaller than my old one but I have a nice en-suite, my own fridge and cupboards so can make sandwiches and evening meal etc. This also reduces my costs which help. Here are a couple of photos of my room, see the nice 32” flat screen tv? Also if Claire comes down we don’t pay any more and we could stay the weekend if we like. Only trouble is that there is so much to do at home right now.

The other thing was that I managed to negotiate a 4 day week so I gain an extra day at home which helps. On the down side, it makes a very long day, especially on a Monday where I now have to leave by 4am to get to work for 7am. This Sunday night I woke up at 12am needing the toilet and instead of going I tried to go back to sleep without success. I felt too tired to get up but eventually had to at 1.30am by which time I was awake and woke Claire up. That was it, not much sleep before setting off on a 3 hour drive followed by a 10 hour day. It’s a bit like torture and I don’t really recover until Wednesday, then I have to do it in the reverse on Thursday. Never mind, at least I have an income, which seems more than most of our tenants at the moment. This recession really seems to have hit allot of people I know this time. I don’t ever remember being affected by political situations before but boy this one has made up for it in our lives at least.

The other photo is a statue that I pass on my new route to work. If you are wondering what the picture of the elephant was on Claire’s last blog, that was my fault. I saw Claire taking a picture of the Thai restaurant and said that she should move back so she got the elephant in as well. I didn’t realize she got a close up afterwards. Anyway, it is well worth a trip, especially at lunch time for the buffet. Its next door to Morgans estate agents. They also do a take away which I expect Claire will be using before long.