Posted in March 2007

Lonely Thursday

Source: Eddie2sox
Thursday 29th March 2007, 5:16pm

Another Thursday, another day in Simonworld.....

Actually, going back a day, you can now, officially, call me "The Guvnor Of Songanory"! That is the title bestowed on me me by Si from the KLFM Breakfast Show yesterday. Why? Well. Songanory was a sad tale of a bloke losing track with his brother.....I guessed either Don't Look Back In Anger or Heasdshrinker by my heroes Oasis.....wrong!

Eventually I guessed it was "Daniel" by Elton John, I am now, apparently, The Guvnor of Songanory, yay!

Thursday means cleaning in the morning, which went very nicely. In the afternoon the plumbers finally got despatched to my flat to sort out the "pooh coming up through the plughole in the bath" problem. And then only because I called the letting agents to whinge. Their conclusion? Yes, pooh comes out of the plughole. We'll send another plumber tomorrow.

Thus to bed for a nap before my voluntary work nightshift. And what a bloody shift it was! Me and my colleague were busy pretty much start to finish, with some fairly heavy-duty callers. None that affected me too much or so I thought. Usually at the end of each shift you offload your calls and any feelings they have raised to an offsite colleague. But on the nightshift you don't phone because you finish at 2 a.m. And anyway, no calls upset me!

However, now, several hours later, I am really worried about one caller, and can't sleep. This is a first for me. Not particularly bad problems, no real risk of self-harm or suicide. Just a really "nice" person battling against life and not doing very well. Sad.

I'm going to try to sleep again.

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Job & Betting Updates!

Source: Eddie2sox
Thursday 29th March 2007, 7:39am

Thought I'd pop the latest progress reports on here first thing today, so any blogaholics will have something new to read when they first log-on at work....

Jobsearch Update

Job #10 : One Stop Shop - took the completed application form back, they're advertising for part-time shop assistants. Not heard anything yet. (Started 1 Mar 07)

Job #11 : Yellow Pages delivery - Delivered 507 copies of the Yellow Pages. Should get paid soon!

Job #12 : 7 hours cleaning per week in King's Lynn. Started two weeks ago.

Job #14 : Meter reading in the local area. Information pack received - decided against it. It's basically a compulsory franchise, where they take £750 out of your pay during your first few months working for them, then you have your own "round".

Job #15 : Distributing Norfolk Citizen adverts paper. Left my details with the nice lady, the boss will get back to me with details of any local rounds available (between 50 to 500 papers per round). Nothing else heard yet. (7 Mar 07)

Job #17: Semi-skilled production operative. Almost full-time, but bills need paying! (29 Mar 07)

Betting Update

New Zealand to win cricket World Cup; £1 @ 9/1; potential return £10

The Kiwis recently whupped the Aussies 3-0 in a one day series, in great form coming into the World Cup.

New Zealand each way for cricket World Cup; £1 @ 9/2; £5.50

In case they slip up in the final!

Andy Murray to win Sports Personality Of The Year; £1 @ 2/1; £3

It's a voting contest, Murray will appeal to the young ladies who make most of the votes in all these reality shows. May be in trouble if, somehow, Michael Vaughan wins the cricket World Cup with England (won't happen though).

Leeds United to lose against Preston on Friday; £1 @ 5/4; £3.25

Super Leeds on a one-way ticket to Division Three......Walsall here we come, Walsall Walsall here we come!

Aussies to beat Windies and England to beat Ireland in Super 8’s stage of Cricket World Cup; £1 @ 1.32/1; £2.32

Ponting’s team beat the Windies comfortably, and even England “should” beat my associate tip Ireland….will this be the first success?

Liverpool to beat Aston Villa; £1 @ 4/5; £1.80

Villa 0 Liverpool 0.

Euro 2008 Qualifiers, England, France, Ukraine, Germany, Italy, Wales & Spain to win; £1 at 4.2/1; £5.20

They ALL won! Except chuffing Germany. I’m going to buy, then run over, a sausage today.

Account £12.00

Potential Winnings £24.07

Still no chance!

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Bikes, Kites, & A Bathtime Tsunami

Source: Eddie2sox
Tuesday 27th March 2007, 8:30pm

Picked Sam up from nursery today, and we had one of the best afternoons we've ever had!

Cleaning today was hard work, the boss lady asked if I could clean "A room" at another site after the normal Tuesday place - no problem, but I was meeting a mate in town for a coffee later. Turned out she wanted THREE rooms doing, hell's bells, I did what I could in the time then left a note saying I'd do the rest tomorrow (I am in that place tomorrow as it happens). Dashed off to Costa Coffee to meet my friend K who's been having a really rough time of it - the fact they were in town at all is great, they've not wanted to leave the house for a few months. We had a good chat and K is feeling somewhat more positive about life this week, which is wonderful to hear. It's a helpless feeling seeing someone you think a lot of going through such a crappy time....

Anyway......time came to collect Sam, the sun was shining and the weather was lovely....got home and I asked Sam if he wanted to ride his bike to the (admittedly decimated) park, go on the big swings, and have a game of football. YESSSSS! On the way past the Walks Sam spotted someone flying a kite, so we decided to take Sam's kite with us too......Sam is now getting more confident, and therefore faster, on his bike, which means daddy is getting more worried, but also having to move faster lol. Got held up by the level crossing, Sam waited patiently with his front wheel "just so" on the white line, then we bumped our way across. We zoomed into the park, and just as we did the big red dumper truck was coming out of the temporary builders yard, with the big yellow one right behind.

We stopped on the grass to let them past, both drivers waved at Sam (thanks chaps!), then when they were past Sam said "Let's race them Daddy" and set off at (what seemed to me) approaching 100 miles per hour. Caught him up, and with a hand on his handlebars to cut out the speed wobble that he can't yet control, we were off in pursuit of the dumpers! We were gaining too, but by this time Sam had his feet up off the pedals and I was pulling the bike along ("faster daddy"....."puff pant, yeah right....."). Fortunately, JUST at that point we reached the swings and Sam said "The swings Daddy!". God, I bloody loved the swings at that moment. I opened the gate into the park expecting Sam to tootle gingerly down the steep, muddy, tree-root infested slope and through....no chance. As soon as the gate was open a blue blur fizzed past me, laughing its head off. They really do have no fear when they're little do they.....Anyway, Sam sat sideways for a start on the big swings, then turned round, and we didn't go very high for fear of launching Sam into space.

After a while Sam wanted to go and try the kite, so we whizzed into the main large field, fixed the kite, and before I could say "Sam, run off in that direction with the handle", Sam was off and running in that direction with the kite's handle. Now, we tried and tried and tried, Sam covered at least 3 miles running this way, that way, forward and back, but alas the wind was not quite strong enough. We did attract quite a few cooing admirers though, but who can blame them, Sam is 100% cute and his daddy is....well, Sam is 100% cute! Home time!

Sam rode his bike home uneventfully, but when we got into the flats he pedalled at max chat straight into the front door of our flat. I was really shocked as his back wheel lifted off the ground upon impact, but luckily he landed safely, and I told him to remember to use his brakes. The shock of his "crash" plus his daddy's reaction must have scared Sam a bit as he burst into tears......but we got inside, helped ourselves to some juice and a banana each, and I explained that I wasn't cross just worried that he might hurt himself. By now (i.e. 2 minutes later) Sam had calmed down and agreed about the brakes, so it turned out to be a good practical lesson.

So......"Shall we have a timing race Daddy?" GREAT idea! (The pic is the cars at the finish area!). We set up another obstacle course for the four cars to do battle against each other and the clock again. Course being Small Purple Tunnel, Red Hole, Big Golf Club, Twice Around The Football, Three Golf Jump (green, orange, blue), Small Golf Club, Ferrari Team Lorry, Finish. First up was Blue & White, who set the base time of 53.19 seconds, next came Blue & Yellow (42.83, fast!), and then disaster! Sam spotted a fire at the finish area, so Fireman Sam had to be deployed in his fire engine Pegasus to deal with the incident. Third car today was Red, who stormed home in 36.20, so it was down to Black & Silver....who jumped the start! I ordered a "10 second stop and go penalty", which brought a similar reaction from Sam as it does from Ross Braun, Frank Willians et al...."Awwwww, that's not fair....." Not fair Sam, but it's what they do in proper car racing. Sam was dubious but accepted the ref's decision, and he is gonna be SO amazed when he hears the phrase "10 second stop and go penalty" on the Grand Prix this year! In the event, Black & Silver romped home in 28.91, BUT with the 10 second penalty his time became 38.91, meaning Red won again! Two on the trot. This was fantastic news for Captain Farty-Pants (Daaa-Daaa-Daaaaaaah)....

Hearing from Captain FP meant it must be bath-time! Sam was a little reluctant as we were having so much fun. But, when I said "shall we take the football in to clean it" he sooned came round to the idea. Bear in mind, the football is a sponge football...it's important! Bath went good, Sam is now washing himself, in a fashion, and I just have to finish the bits he misses. The Matey Men dived in, Captain Cow announced his name change and that he would never ever say anything else but "Moooo"......what a weirdo! We filled and emptied and filled and emptied the old bottles...and then....why the hell did I do it.....I suggested we see how much of a splash the football would make! Sam agreed, I squeezed all the air out of the ball (which was now, therefore, a football-sized ball of water entrapped in sponge), Sam stood back, the ball soared almost up to the ceiling......and then EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE was soaked. Sam got a full frontal drenching, including his face which he hates, but was laughing so much he forgot to be upset. Daddy's clothes were at least 50% dripping wet. The floor within 6 feet of the bath was seriously flooded. SUCCESS! Wow, we had to try THAT again! Which we did, four or five more times, with similar results each time. Sam insisted on launching it himself a few times too, one of which landed outside the bath, and one landed on top of his head. In between gasping for breath while laughing we agreed to get out and get dry to watch The Simpsons.

Sam had ham sandwiches before bath, so he had a yoghurt and a Penguin biscuit while we watched Bart and Lisa scupper Sideshow Bob's attempt to become mayor of Springfield. And then it was time to go back to mummy's. Sam had to have a different t-shirt, his first was a victim of the bathtime tsunami!

Good little chat with Sam's mummy, about timings for the Easter holidays. Cleaning boss lady said I couldn't change the times (grrrrrr), so hopefully me and Sarah can work round it. Sarah's really positive about the whole her/me/Sam situation, we both agree Sam needs both parents as much as possible. I am a very lucky Daddy in that respect. Main event of the Easter holidays will be The Wacky Races banger racing on Easter Monday. We went last year, that was our first visit - Sam loved it. This year again there will be lots of "normal" bangers plus a Robin Reliant race (hilarious) plus a caravan demolition derby. Give it a go. Or come with me and Sam!

Great afternoon with my amazing little friend. I bet you're gonna be asleep well tonight Sam xxx see you tomorrow......

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Dangerous Driver Alert!

Source: Eddie2sox
Tuesday 27th March 2007, 7:48pm

Beware of a blue VW Polo - J833DVG

Because tonight I have seen and experienced this erratic and dangerous man's driving (I WAS going to use the phrase irresponsible, law-breaking tosser, but I'll stick with erratic and dangerous man (EDM)).

Driving back towards King's Lynn town centre, between the MacDonalds traffic lights and South Gates roundabout, the road is split into two lanes, with a speed limit of 40 miles an hour until you reach the houses, thereafter 30. Right lane for turning right at the roundabout or joining the right hand lane into town. Left lane for the two left exits or joining the left lane into town.

EDM was behind me in the right hand lane at the traffic lights. We set off, I reached 40 mph, stayed at that speed - it's the lawful limit! EDM swerved into the left lane, accelerated to go past me (guessing 50/55 mph), then, continued at his new speed as we entered the 30 zone, before swerving sharply back into the right hand lane just before the roundabout. He went right, without indicating, down Vancouver Avenue, same way I was going. All his bizarre and potentuially dangerous driving was WELL worth it as, by the time we reached the level crossing near my flats, he was a huge 40-ish metres ahead of me!

Now, the real point of this post, as well as alerting you to this accident-waiting-to-happen, is that my son lives with his mummy on one of the roads approaching the Southgates roundabout within about 150 metres. If there's an accident and he gets struck by EDM or another equally thoughtless driver at such a high speed he will be dead, at 30 he'll have a chance.

EDM, if you're reading, do get in touch, that stretch of road IS covered by CCTV, and no doubt the police would love an admission of speeding and dangerous driving.

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It's A Beautiful Monday!

Source: Eddie2sox
Monday 26th March 2007, 10:13am

While I was on the way home from the doctor's this morning I took a diversion through the park....

I happened to take this photo, and just wanted to put it in my blog to show what a beautiful morning it is....

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Where's My Park Gone Daddy?

Source: Eddie2sox
Monday 26th March 2007, 10:10am

The Walks is having a facelift,and the playpark has been disappearing....

Sam has taken a keen interest in the slow disappearance of the equipment in the park, which has slowly reduced from 2 sets of kiddie swings, 1 set of large swings, 1 slide, 3 climbing frames, and 1 ride-on elephant.

Right now only the set of swings shown in the picture remains. Much to his credit Sam hasn't moaned about this, he just seems excited that there will be new toys there eventually!

The base of the new cafe is being made right now too, it's octagonal, woooooo!

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BBC Radio Norfolk - And Pigeon Pie!

Source: Eddie2sox
Sunday 25th March 2007, 1:59pm

Finally got to grips with making the pigeon pie this morning, and decided to let The Beeb know about it....

And amazingly their gorgeous Sunday morning DJ Kirsteen mentioned tha fact that I was struggling with me timings. Not only that but "an expert" chef was interviewed on air about making pigeon pie! Apparently it's all about the sauce you serve with game, it has to compliment the gamey flavour. Well my sauce will be the juice from the roasted (15 mins) pigeons plus thickish vegetable stock (I use Kallo Low Salt Vegetable Stock Cubes - next to zero salt - look for the blue box in shops).

Who knows, maybe this will provoke a rush to local butchers shops for pigeons? Hope so. The butcher near the clock is great, and the meat is MILES better than Tesco. If you live in or near King's Lynn, pigeons are available weekly, as are rabbits!

Pigeon pie recipe later!

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Karma....And Other Stuff

Source: Eddie2sox
Sunday 25th March 2007, 11:30am

I earned myself a large slice of good karma on Saturday evening, so theoretically all I have to do is sit back and wait for somethign great to happen?

Sam

Picked up Sam on Friday afternoon and we had a pretty good time. Sam had his traditional chip butty for tea - with my home-made, lovingly crafted tomato ketchup! Unfortunately Sam didn't touch it much, and at the end of eating asked "Daddy, is this the same red sauce?" Of course, it's from the same bottle Sam. "Well it tastes different and I don't like it." DOH!

Saturday was freezing cold, rainy and windy. We did venture out briefly into town, with the aim of going to the Corn Exchange to see if there were any more shows coming up - following the triumphant Tweenies visit on Wednesday. We didn't make it that far, the weather beat us. We did have fun all day though, from 5.30 a.m. when Sam appeared next to me in bed, threw his arms round me and kissed my forehead (doesn't get ANY better than that) all the way through. We put the latest photos in the photo album, then we looked all the way through both albums, and Sam was commenting away, asking questions, it's great that he's learning about his life plus his daddy's life too. Amazingly, sometimes he points at a picture of me when I was a nipper and asks if it's him. Maybe he's grown up with me and my hare lip and it means nothing to him......hope so, he will take people how they are rather than how they look like.

Two great new games! We used one of those magnetic "draw on it then wipe it off" thingies as Bob The Builder's computer, which kept drawing pictures of jobs we had to do.......you wouldn't believe it! Muck the Dumper Truck needed oiling (oil applied, Muck very happy), Postman Pat had tummy ache (put to bed for FOUR WEEKS bedrest), the Piston Cup was dirty (polished, looking lovely), the Air Football table wasn't working (fully tested, no apparent problems, needs re-checking on Tuesday), and the shed with the red roof in Bob's building yard had a leak (wooden planks bolted on to stop the leak).

Second was a variation on the Car Race Obstacle Race game. Sam's four racing cars were in competition, and Daddy was timing their two runs on the course to see who was the fastest. Course this time was the wood plank zig zag, pushing the golf ball through the purple tunnel (sounds like a euphemism thinking about it), Matey Men zig zag (they have now been christened - Captain Fishy, Captain Dodgy, Captain Farty-Pants "Daaa-Daaa-DAAAAAAAH!", and Captain Cow), over the green golf jump, through the red hole, over another golf ball, take off from orange golf hole, clock stops when you land on the blue golf hole. The red racing car won. Full timings:

1. Red 0:55.49 + 0:42.91 = 1:38.40

2. Blue & Orange 1:03.06 + 0:56.59 = 1:59.65

3. Black & Silver 1:13.30 + 1:04.30 = 2:17.60

4. Blue & White 1:08.19 + 1:29.95 = 2:38.14

Sam loved the timing aspect of this game and loved the adding up at the end to see who had won!

We had early bathtime because there was an HOUR LONG YOU'VE BEEN FRAMED SPECIAL!!!!! That was of course greatly appreciated, Sam loves the slapstick, I like that plus Harry Hill's dry commentary. So. all in all, I can't think of a better way to spend a cold, wet, rainy day indoors than with my fantastic young man Sam!

Pub Or Pie?

A couple of people had asked me to join them to watch the England v Israel game in the pub. I fancied staying in to make pigeon pie.....Sam said I should go to the pub and watch football! I had an attack of sensible-ness (is that a word?) and decided to stay in and cook the pie. Went straight to Tesco from Sam's mummy's house to buy the last few ingredients. Just as I was getting in me car to come home a young woman ran up and asked if it was safe to drive on a flat tyre. Told her she would be OK to go very slowly to the garage to re-inflate it, then my conscience kicked in and I crawled along behind her to the air pump. Took a look - it was obvious that a puff of air would not be sufficient, as the tyre was completely off the wheel! She asked if it would re-inflate? No chance. Do you know how to change a tyre? Uh-oh....yes. I'll pay you to change it for me! You bloody won't pay me, I'll do it for nothing, do you have a spare tyre? Fortunately she did! I proceeded to get absolutely filthy, soaking wet and freezing cold as I changed her wheel. She didn't have a car manual so I had to feel and guess where the strongest part of the car was to jack it up, lifted it and spent the time expecting a horrific ripping metal sound as the jack went through the bottom of the car......that didn't happen though, and within minutes she was off home to hubby and a cosy Satruday night in. Bless.

Fate - I Get The Hint!

So. At this point I reconsidered my plan for the evening. If I'd gone home and thence to the pub I wouldn't have ended up in a cold, minging state (but with a happy conscience). I took it that Fate was saying GO TO THE PUB YOU CLOWN so I went.

Saturday Night Woolpack - Care In The Community?

Got to the pub at half time in the footie, England drawing 0-0 with Israel in a must-win game. Not too many people in, great! Football re-started, and England had all of the ball but no cutting edge, the game ended 0-0 - real danger of not qualifying for Euro 2008 now.

Ian the bar manager (and husband of my pseudo-sister Debbie) was in good form, along with South African/Scottish/English/Russian/Martian Stuart and a little later Roy The Caretaker. Lots of fun talk, especially at the versatility of the jockanese word "pish"...."I'm pished"....."yeez talking pish"......."off for a pish boys" etc. Thanks to Gerry for that, probably the nicest Jock you'll ever meet. He'd been out all day and headed off home about 9 to settle down on the settee to watch Scotland on Match Of The Day and scoff another Easter egg (he's got through 3 already). He's right though, Easter egg choc is THE best choc. Another local walked in (Trev maybe?) and ordered a pint of Old Speckled Hen, then stuck a chicken costume head on his bonce......

Well. Who's have thought there were SO many chicken related terrible puns....

"He's only here cos he's hen-pecked"....

"Don't egg him on...."

"That beer looks fowl".....

"I think his brain's scrambled....."

"It's no yolk, I hope he's all white...."

"Good to see him coing out of his shell...."

"Looks like he's hatching a plan....."

Plus about another 50 absolutely CRAP jokes, all of which were, at the time, the funniest thing you've ever heard. Predictably, some idiot stuck chicken-related songs on the jukebox (might have been me), The Chicken Song, Wishbone Ash, Rooster, Chicken Stomp.....oh dear. We agreed that if nothing else, we were keeping three complete buffoons off the streets on a Saturday night.

The gorgeous single mum came in too, as did Trev and Georgie on their way into town, and just before I left Sean and Cathy. Sean's looking hairier by the minute.

Anyway. I had a brilliant time in The Woolpack last night. Thanks Fate, and thanks Stu, Ian (mung me another, beer monger!) and Roy, and Chicken Man.

Cricket World Cup

It's going well so far! Records are being set, the highlight being Herschelle Gibbs' six sixes in one over. England have trundled ponderously into the Super Eights, they're going to be in trouble reaching the semis. My tip, New Zealand, have comfortably despatched all opponents so far - including England - so still looking good. Ireland would have been my outside bet for an associated (that is, not fully Test Match recognised) to make the Super Eights, and they have, don't you hate it when you don't tell people about summat that later happens!

Poor Bob Woolmer though, there's lots of mileage in this story, also bringing back the Hansie Cronje theories.......match fixing anyone? Bob Woolmer didn't deserve to be murdered, as an ex-test player. Still the jokes have started already. Someone said that the entire Pakistani cricket team are giving up cricket for Bob slaying. And also, it seems they're the first team to ever go to the one-day world cup and come back with the Ashes. (If you want to complain, only do so if you have NEVER enjoyed a joke about anything in bad taste).

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Thai Red Vegetable Curry

Source: Eddie2sox
Friday 23rd March 2007, 2:05pm

Thai curries are usually thinner and hotter than Indian curries, and look more appealing with vivid colours.....this is a very mild recipe

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large onion, diced

500g sweet potatoes, cubed

300g butternut squash or marrow, cubed

250 flat green beans

2 tomatoes, diced

2 X 400g cans coconut milk

2 tsp Thai red curry paste

Juice of 1 large lime

2 tbsp soy sauce

Boiled rice, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion, sweet potato and squash for 5 minutes, until beginning to soften. Cut the beans into 5 cm lengths, then add these and the tomatoes and cook for a further 2/3 minutes until the tomatoes begin to soften.

2. Add the coconut milk and curry paste and bring to the boil. Cook the mixture for 10-12 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

3. Add the lime juice and soy sauce, check the seasoning and serve with boiled rice.

Takes 35 minutes, serves 6.

Per serving: 170 kcal, 4g protein, 34g carbohydrates, 3g fat, trace saturated fat, 5g fibre, trace added sugar, 1.44g salt.

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Tweenie-Tastic!

Source: Eddie2sox
Thursday 22nd March 2007, 8:34am

WTNG (Woolpack The Next Generation for new readers) joined forces yesterday to go and see The Tweenies Live! at King's Lynn Corn Exchange....

I took Sam, and we met Misty, Ellie and Kortney with a selection of so-called grown-ups for a pre-match Happy Meal just round the corner from the theatre. Thanks to my excellent reconnaissance we had tickets in the steeper part of the auditorium, at the end of two rows, right next to the exit. The little ones all had fantastic views of the stage and were wide-eyed when The Tweenies shook their booty for almost two hours.

Sam has been a bit reticent at previous shows we've been to, but seems to be mellowing a little and was shouting at the stage, clapping like the, umm, clappers, and doing the dance moves with the best of 'em. From the safety of Daddy's lap for the second half, admittedly, but we're getting there! At the end of the show our little party disintegrated as everyone had to have their children back with various parents/partners etc as soon as possible, so WTNG is "class dismissed" for the time being. Me and Sam had a really fun walk home, involving duck racing, avoiding the lamp posts and counting with certain numbers replaced with animal noises. All really good stuff and ended our time together on a happy note.

I had an interview yesterday for a 25 hours a week admin job, and I think it went OK-ish. This job would be just about perfect and I could fit in the cleaning work with it seamlessly. Best of all though, it wouldn't affect my time with Sam! They said they'll be deciding by the end of the week, fingers crossed!

Talking of cleaning, I think I must be doing it right as the boss lady hasn't bothered turning up to inspect what I've done this week, which I take to be a good sign. Last 1 1/2 hours of the week this morning, then I have nothing else planned for the day. I will be cooking something this afternoon, not decided what yet, but I'm leaning towards something hot and spicy and probably vegetarian!

And finally.....every Thursday I weigh myself to keep a check on my health, and today was no exception. Hopped on the scales....hmmmm, slightly heavier than last week by 0.6kg. No problemmo, I just put the Norfolk Single Dad Diet into play and within one minute I had actually lost 0.4kg from last week, result! So, what is the secret of the miraculous Norfolk Single Dad Diet? Take off your dressing gown and have a pooh!

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Tomato Ketchup

Source: Eddie2sox
Tuesday 20th March 2007, 8:07am

I decided to make Sam some home-made tomato ketchup instead of the usual Heinz variety....it's difficult to estimate how much ketchup you will get because it depends how watery the tomatoes are.....

Ingredients

4 kg ripe tomatoes

300 ml clear malt vinegar

200g caster sugar

8 cloves

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp peppercorns

2-3 bay leaves

1 tsp salt

Method

1. Rinse and roughly chop the tomatoes. Put them in a large pan with the other ingredients and leave to soak for 30 minutes. Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and bubble gently on a low heat for 30 minutes to an hour. The tomatoes release lots of juice, so shouldn't stick to the pan.

2. When you have a thick(ish) aromatic sauce, remove from the pan and push the mix through a sieve, leaving the debris and spices behind. Taste and season if required. Return this puree to the pan, bring back to the boil, turn down to a simmer and reduce to a rich, think sauce.

3. How long this takes depends on the water content of the tomatoes, but allow anything up to 1 1/2 hours. Pour through a funnel into jars or bottles (I am using a Heinz bottle, Sam will never know the difference).

Notes

This was fun to make and should be a bit healthier than shop-bought ketchup. I used half the amounts for the ingredients and it turned out really well. 2kg of tomatoes made approx 900g of ketchup.

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Sunday Picture Of The Weather, Tuesday Under The Weather

Source: Eddie2sox
Tuesday 20th March 2007, 7:54am

Forgot (again) to post Sunday's weather pic, so here it is. No wonder I was freezing cold when I walked home from the Woolpack!

And once again I've woken up full of cold, ears aching because of inflamed sinuses. What a run of bad luck I'm having with the common cold. Surely this will be the last of them for a while, bloody hope so anyway. Not that a cold stops you doing anything, just get dosed up with Lemsip and carry on regardless. Second week of the part-time cleaning starts this morning.

This morning I decided to have another crack at KLFM's Songanory, but to make it a bit more difficult I sent my answer before the story was read out. My guess? Park Life by Blur. The answer? Billie Jean by Michael Jackson (when he was still black). So close but yet so far....the divine Amanda called me a muppet on air. How does she know me that well?

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KLFM Breakfast Show!

Source: Eddie2sox
Monday 19th March 2007, 8:06am

Every morning the KLFM Breakfast Show runs a competition called Songanory, in which they tell the storyline of a song and listeners have to guess which song it is.....

Well, this morning the storyline was blatantly obvious, kid walks into a chemist trying to buy condoms.....I confidently texted my guess "Sell Me Some Johnnies You Old Bag" by The Lighthouse Family (not one of their better known songs admittedly, but this was 1999 and everyone had cottoned on that they were bland and rubbish by then) and KLFM wouldn't read out my correct answer! Instead they said the winner was someone who answered "House Of Fun" by some bunch of unknowns called Madness. Grrrr, I was robbed!

And that's the second time in a week that it's happened. Scandalous.

Last week the story was of a young man stuck in a cold, damp flat, wishing he was elsewhere, listening to police sirens and a band practicing in a nearby yard......obviously this was "Ernie (And He Drove The Fastest Milk Cart In The West)" by Benny Hill. Once again, texted in, the presenters announced the correct answer was "That's Entertainment" by somebody called The Jam. The Jam! Who would get anywhere with a ridiculous name like that! Anyone ever heard of this "The Jam"?

So. I will continue to try to beat presenters, surely one day they will actually get a song right!? Maybe not.....

Radio 1 Breakfast Show Duped!

Chris Moyles is having a day off after his Red Nose frolics last week, so Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates are standing in. They've been getting listeners to phone in if they want the day off (like Moyles), then phoning their bosses to ask them to give them a free day off. With me so far? Well the first two attempts failed due to resolute bosses, the third try seemed to be going well. The "worker" was a lady called Sue who wanted a day off from her Peterborough firm. Fearne and reggie called her "boss" (also called Sue). Worker Sue's phone rang in the background......Boss Sue said "hello".....both Sues sounded exactly the same........Boss Sue did indeed give Worker Sue the day off, before the Radio 1 team realised it was the same person. Sue said "I gotcha" and put the phone down. It was radio gold....

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Fancy A Flutter?

Source: Eddie2sox
Sunday 18th March 2007, 10:44am

A few days ago after tipping New Zealand to win the cricket World Cup, I started a small online betting account.....here's the state of play!

A few days ago Letty amazed us all with her accurate selection of winning horses. So, just for fun, starting with a £20 kitty, I thought it would be interesting to see how long it takes me to lose the lot (which I will, the bookie always wins)....

Current Bets

New Zealand to win cricket World Cup; £1 @ 9/1; potential return £10

The Kiwis recently whupped the Aussies 3-0 in a one day series, in great form coming into the World Cup.

New Zealand each way for cricket World Cup; £1 @ 9/2; £5.50

In case they slip up in the final!

Liverpool to beat Aston Villa; £1 @ 4/5; £1.80

Rafa's team look too good for Villa today.

Andy Murray to winn Sports Personality Of The Year; £1 @ 2/1; £3

It's a voting contest, Murray will appeal to the young ladies who make most of the votes in all these reality shows. May be in trouble if, somehow, Michael Vaughan wins the cricket World Cup with England (won't happen though).

Lost Bets

Southend, Bayer Leverkusen, Arbroath, St Etienne to win, 4-way accumulator; £1 @ 15/1. Southend drew, Arbroath match abandoned, St Etienne won....

Current State Of Play

Account £15.00

Potential Winnings £20.30

Will It Happen?

No chance!

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I Am A Winner!

Source: Eddie2sox
Sunday 18th March 2007, 9:13am

NSD on easy money, Comic Relief, a great day with his son and empty Sundays...

Friday went well, early on I returned my spare Yellow Pages and got my contract signed - in about a month they will be shoving £80 in my bank. Not bad for basically a day and a half's work, which was actually good exercise and a nice walk in warm sunny weather! Also had a good visit with my alcohol counsellor, and took mum to visit dad in hospital. My dad has all these terrible problems but still said to me mum "Aren't we lucky to have a little lad like Sam come into the family". What a man.

My dad returned home from hospital on Friday, as did my brother to his home. Dad's looking a bit better and sounding quite chirpy. We still don't really know much about how Billy is, they rarely communicate with the rest of the family, but if he's home then maybe it's not as bad as we first thought. Dad much prefers being in Grantham hospital as opposed to Leicester Glenfield, Grantham is much more friendly and the nurses seem to care more, apparently. Also, for my mum, it's only a half hour's drive each way every day, not 90 minutes (2 hours if the traffic's bad).

Comic Relief were pretty good on the whole, but they should lose the tear-jerker items between the entertainment. Everyone knows why they're doing it, and people turn to another channel or off altogether when they are subjected to another B-list celeb crying in Africa. I'm not saying it's not a worthy cause, it is, and we all know that already. My personal highlight? Ricky Gervais' faked African interview, in which Jamie Oliver, Bob Geldof and Bono all "acted" as if they were cynically exploiting CR for their own personal gain. I think you'll find I had a rant about this very subject and these very culprits in the last week!

Me and Sam had a good Friday evening, chip butty went down well as usual, bathtime was wet and wild, Sam stayed up late (quarter past seven) to watch Comic Relief, and found Mister Bean hilarious. I've spent the last few days building the Lego Ferrari F1 team lorry that Sam saved up for and he was amazed with it when he clapped eyes on it, and it instantly went to Number One Favourite Toy. Saturday was fantastic. We bounced out of bed at 6 and had top class Sam & Dad time until 11, including cooking chicken drumsticks for Sam's pickernicker (picnic). At 11 we loaded the car and set out to visit Auntie Kay, then Nana and Grandad - Sam wanted to show them the bike they gave him at Christmas. At nana and grandad's house Sam rode in on the bike and charmed them completely, as usual. He also took his Lego lorry, which he is incredibly proud of. We spent some time in my parents back yard and big garden, playing with the bike and their dog, and it was great to see both mum and dad sitting outside enjoying the sun, with us and Kay and Trev. Sam had lots of fun "off roading" round their garden, his bike's never been on grass before, plus grass doesn't hurt when you fall off! Eventually we had to set off for home, Sam had a snooze in the car, but woke up back at King's Lynn (he now has £6 towards his next saving up project thanks to Nana). The last two hours were great as well, including what was meant to be a quick bathtime, a tea packed with veg (hidden veg pasta sauce - Sam calls it sketty bolognaise), and You've Been Framed which was extra funny this week. We also watched the first half of TV Burp, which - in theory - a three year old shouldn't really find funny. Sam almost wet himself laughing, especially at Harry Hill's "asides" to camera - he copied one of them in the car on the way back to his mummy's and I nearly pranged the car through laughing at him.

I watched the Eurovision auditions last night and I'm very happy that Scooch won, with a ridiculous song, ludicrous choreography and laughable costumes. Our family loves Eurovision and each year holds a barbecue on the big night, with a £1 a head sweepstake. Whoever wins the sweepstake has to host the next year's party. OK, Eurovision is completely rigged these days but that's not the point is it. It's surely all about cheese, cheese and more cheese, getting together for a fun evening, and laughing at "johnny foreigner"....

So. Sunday morning now. A whole day with nothing planned. What the hell do I do?????

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Mediterranean Cod

Source: Eddie2sox
Friday 16th March 2007, 9:18pm

A really tasty meal that makes you feel that you're eating unhealthy (therefore nicer) food, but which is actually extremely good for you!

Ingredients

750g floury potatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

4 cod fillets, approx 150g each

225g chestnut mushrooms

8 tbsp mixed pepper antipasto

2 tbsp fresh grated parmesan (which I forgot!)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200degrees C. Cut the potatoes into wedges and put into a roasting tin. Drizzle over the olive oil and stir well. Season. Cook in the middle of the oven for 45-50 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the potatoes are golden, crisp and cooked through.

2. Meanwhile, put the cod fillets in an ovenproof dish in a single layer. Season well. Slice the mushrooms and scatter over the fish.

3. Spread the mixed pepper antipasto over the top of the mushrooms. Put the fish in the oven on the shelf above the potato wedges 10 minutes before the wedges have finished cooking. Sprinkle the fish with the grated parmesan and serve hot with the potato wedges.

Takes: 1 hour; Serves 4.

Per serving: 359 kcal; 34g protein; 34g carbohydrate; 11g fat; 2g saturated fat; 4g fibre; 0 added sugar; 0.43g salt.

Notes

Use a REALLY sharp knife to remove the skin from the fish, and don't forget the parmesan! I halved the amount of ingredients and this recipe turned out great. It is probably the recipe I have most enjoyed eating of all those I've posted in this blog!

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Jobsearch Update - Friday 16 March 2007

Source: Eddie2sox
Friday 16th March 2007, 7:36am

Some progress this week!

Job #10 : One Stop Shop - took the completed application form back, they're advertising for part-time shop assistants. Not heard anything yet. (Started 1 Mar 07)

Job #11 : Yellow Pages delivery - I've now delivered 507 copies of the advert-tastic bin-filler, and this morning will be returning the paperwork and extra books. Should get paid in the next month, hoorah!

Job #12 : 7 hours cleaning per week in King's Lynn. Started on Tuesday, job involves cleaning at 3 sites in town, the boss says I can change the timings to suit myself, nice one.

Job #13 : 25 hours a week secretary/admin job at Hardwick Narrows. I have an interview for this job next Wednesday.

Job #14 : Meter reading in the local area. Information pack received - decided against it. It's basically a compulsory franchise, where they take £750 out of your pay during your first few months working for them, then you have your own "round". If it weren't for the nursing training (hopefully) in September I think I'd give it a go. Who knows, if I don't get selected for nursing I might return to this option?

Job #15 : Distributing Norfolk Citizen adverts paper. Left my details with the nice lady, the boss will get back to me with details of any local rounds available (between 50 to 500 papers per round). Nothing else heard yet. (7 Mar 07)

Job #16 : Cleaner at Springwood school, various shifts available. I have an interview for this work on Monday, places becoming available in May. (7 Mar 07)

Things have moved on! I'll be buying the Lynn News today anyway, but I'm not making any more initial moves for jobs until I find out about Job #13.

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Positive Tuesday!

Source: Eddie2sox
Tuesday 13th March 2007, 7:34pm

It's been a day moving forward, generally, with yet more bad family news to spoil things....

I couldn't believe it was time to get up at 8 this morning, after getting to sleep about 3 after my nightshift. The nightshift actually went pretty quickly, with no heavy calls for me (although my colleague did seem to get the bad ones, unfortunately). So, 8 o'clock, up and get ready to start my cleaning job at 9! Yes, it's only 7 hours a week, but hey, that's 7 hours more pay than last week! The cleaning was easy enough, not rocket science is it.

When I got home the postie had been, and there were two exciting pieces of mail (EPOM):

EPOM #1: "We were unable to deliver a parcel because you were out"......could this be Sam's long saved-up-for Lego lorry?

EPOM #2: Dear Simon, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in the above vacancy. Having considered your Curriculum Vitae we would like to invite you to interview at the King's Lynn office." Hoorah, this would be THE ideal post, 25 hours a week, lovely. Better get me suit and tie dry-cleaned I suppose....

Yesterday I had exciting mail too, I won a competition on a cooking for kids website and won an apron; see the pic, don't I look yummy!

I picked Sam up from nursery and he was almost luminous with excitement as we went to collect the parcel - sure enough it WAS his lorry, fantastic! We opened it up back at the flat - Sam was delighted, I thought "holy crap".....800+ pieces to put together, for god's sake the instructions are 120+ pages! Nine different bags of components, two sheets of stickers, Lego wasn't like this when I were a little boy. Sam was so tired today, we didn't really do much except start making The Lorry and watching The Simpsons (the one where Bart wins an elephant in a radio competition - Sam nearly peed himself laughing).

So, the bad news. Will it ever end? While Sam was here I got a message from one of my sister's that our brother Billy has had a stroke and is in Pilgrim hospital in Boston - no more info available yet. Bloody great. Karma, you owe us BIG time.

All in all a good day. Good luck Billy.

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Sunday Weather Picture

Source: Eddie2sox
Monday 12th March 2007, 5:37pm

Duh, forgot to post this yesterday, as you can see the weather was much better this week!

Also the plants in the background are beginning to come into bud a little, heralding Spring, the most cheerful time of the year for me, hoorah!

Feeling quite pooped now, just delivered all but the final 3 Yellow Pages, glad that's over. Tomorrow morning at 9 I am going to start a trial period at one of the cleaning jobs (trial period, I ask you!), and next Monday there's an interview ahead of possibly starting school cleaning in May! Slow progress but progress none the less.

Tonight I'm at my voluntary organisation training from 7 til 9, then on nightshift there from 10 til 2 in the morning. Really hoping for a quiet night without too many demanding calls....

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World Cup 2007

Source: Eddie2sox
Monday 12th March 2007, 10:18am

Did you know there is a MASSIVE World Cup tournament this year?

Women's Football World Cup

That's right, the FIFA Women's Football World Cup will be held in China during September this year. England are ranked 12th in the world, so probably won't be bringing home the trophy, but good luck to them anyway.....

Seriously....

There is a huge world cup this year, involving men not women, It's the tournament I am really interested in, skill, speed, and an England team who are massive underdogs against the likes of Australia and New Zealand. That's right, the ICC Cricket World Cup starts today, when the hosts West Indies play Pakistan. England will struggle to make any impression at all, and start in a group with New Zealand (my tips for the title), Canada and Kenya. Will Michael Vaughan inspire his team to the semi-finals? England's group games are:

16 March v New Zealand

18 March v Canada

24 March v Kenya

Barmy Army!

Oh, And There's Also....

The rugbo world cup. England are, apparently, the current holders of the trophy, but I doubt anyone will be interested in such a minority sport. Pimms O'clock? Says it all. Look out for inspirational wing-centre-flank-off Jimmy Watkinson, with his impressive collection of career-threatening injuries!

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Monday Chuffing Monday

Source: Eddie2sox
Monday 12th March 2007, 9:40am

In which NSD writes what he meant to write in the previous entry before getting sidetracked by an aging rocker....

Monday Chuffing Monday isn't really applicable for me at the moment, as I don't have a weekday job that I don't like. Mondays are pretty similar to other days in many ways. This Monday looks like this; out for a few hours delivering Yellow Pages, volunteer training from 7 to 9 this evening, voluntary nightshift from 10p.m. to 2 a.m. Looking forward to it!

Yesterday was a really busy Sunday. Wandered the streets dishing out 150 more Yellow Pages, then took my mum to see my dad in Grantham hospital. He seemed pretty perky, still looks painfully thin though except his stomach which is still swollen and full of who knows what. We had tea in a Little Chef at Sleaford afterwards, and it was really nice!

Then back down the A17, relaxed for a bit watching the Plymouth v Watford FA Cup match, and then up to The Woolpack for quiz night. Unfortunately the pub hadn't advertised, they'd forgotten that we had decided to do the quiz every other week, and therefore only a few die-hards appeared. Quiz was cancelled, stayed for a few pints and a gossip, then home for an early night. Busy Sunday.

Still not a Bono fan though.

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Sunday Bloody Sunday

Source: Eddie2sox
Monday 12th March 2007, 9:18am

So said that disgusting pottymouth, Bono. Why the swearing, rich boy?

Why that one song? You avoided temptation to get all expletive on your other songs didn't ya!

Stuck In A ****** That You Can't Get Out Of....

Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me ***** Me....

Where The ****** Have No *********....

Beautiful ****....

So Mister Hewson, why just the one song? Actually I put Bono in exactly the same pigeonhole as Saint Bob Geldof, Saint Jamie Oliver, Saint Madonna. They're publicity seeking, self-aggrandising, pocket-lining do-gooders. But not quietly doing something worthwhile in the background, DOING IT LOUD AND IN YOUR FACE! They're all utterly cynical, manipulating the media to convince the public that they're not actually in it for themselves, they're "doin' it for the kids". Are you ********!

Rant over, please see next entry!

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Saturdays Go So Fast....

Source: Eddie2sox
Saturday 10th March 2007, 9:07pm

We're up at 6 but before you know it the twelve hours have whizzed past and it's time for the dreaded drive to mummy's again....

As usual Sam appeared next to me at about 5 this morning, and proceeded to sleep and fidget for an hour until the alarm beeped at 6. We had a good conversation about "dawn chorus" and "dusk chorus" as the birds were a-tweeting, and Sam blamed an iffy smell on Sir Trumpalot.

This morning was really relaxed, we had some brekkie, played some favourite games, watched Mister Men, surfed the Internet looking at Lego (I think Sam has really seen the light on the whole "saving up" thing, and is looking for his next project). Sam was delighted that an email arrived telling him that his Ferrari team lorry had been dispatched from Germany. It's REALLY coming!

We set off to Cromer with a car full of Yellow Pages and bucket/spade/other essentials, such as a bag full of toys and magazines, and Sam's new Spiderman sunglasses (he's been struggling with sunlight through the windscreen for ages and the visor is too small for a 3 year old). Sam ate his picnic dinner on the way, then fell asleep about ten miles from the coast. So, to let him sleep, I drove around for 40 minutes listening to Five Live and admiring the scenery. Got parked, unloaded, and I felt like Edmund Hillary's sherpa, overloaded and with "things" sticking out in all directions - a DEFINITE hazard to fellow pedestrians. Sam bravely offered to carry his sandcastle bucket, cheers mate, don't overdo it. The pics of him wearing a woolly hat and shades (tough!) are somewhat ruined with the addition of the bucket.

First stop was an ice cream shop - the only open one we could find, and equipped with a whippy cone we headed down to the prom to find somewhere to sit while Sam scoffed. The family on the next bench had brought down their chips, and we had lots of laughs as the seagulls kept swooping down and catching thrown chips, and lining themselves up on the sea wall like the start of the London Marathon. Of course, I HAD to help Sam with his ice cream, which daddy wouldn't!? By the way, the chap in the ice cream shop was BRILLIANT with kids, highly recommended (he serves out of a hatch in the wall, quite close to the ramps down to the sea front).

Next stop was a bimble onto the pier, which Sam loves because you can see the sea beneath you through the planks. At the end of Cromer pier is the lifeboat station which Sam had earlier said he'd like to visit again.....when we got there it was locked up! Big disappointment for both of us but Sam took it well and we went to look at the people fishing off the pier. There was also an amateur artist (or he may have been someone famous for all I know) painting the scene, and he didn't mind at all me showing Sam his easel, pallate (spelling?), and his picture which depicted a fisherman who was wearing a luminous yellow coat. Sam seemed intrigued.

Thus to the beach, hoorah! Sam found it hilarious to dig a spadeful of sand and chase me, then chuck it at me (I even let him get me twice), and found a crab stranded on its back. We "dug him up" and put him in Sam's net, then I risked life, limb and dry, sexy trainers to run down the beach when the wave was going OUT, deposit the unlucky crab, then peg it back up the beach ahead of the wave coming IN. I then spotted some seagulls paddling in the shallow waves and made as if to catch one for tea (seagull on toast anyone?). Sam did NOT approve. We had a look round for more crabs in distress, and found plenty hiding half-buried in the sand or half-hiding under pebbles, waiting for the tide to return.

Off the beach and up to the amusements, yay! I gave Sam £2 to spend and we passed a happy half hour playing the 2p "penny falls" kind of machines, a driving game, couple of rides on little machines, and Sam's first experience of "air hockey" (the one where you whack a plastic puck from end to end as it floats on a bed of air). Sam has a small version of this game at home, and he was pretty astounded by the big table! After the game finished, a little old couple gave Sam a toy bus keyring - they'd won two today - because he was such a nice little boy. Bless 'em.

Sam wasn't over-pleased to leave the amusement arcade, but he knew we needed to go to the crab shop, and he was also hungry. The promise of the rest of his picnic proved irresistible. On the way back we spotted the lifeboat bobbing about in the sea - NO WONDER the station had been closed! We popped into the fresh crab shop for two £2.50s (one for daddy, one for nana), then back to the car and loading all the clobber back in again. On the way out of the car park we spotted a play park which we agreed we'd have a play on next time we come.

Tea today was MacDonalds! A real treat, we only go there every other month, last time was seven weeks ago. We had a very happy 45 minutes in there, eating, talking, laughing, colouring (well done MacD's for providing free pictures and crayons). I wanted some more milk in me coffee, and Sam wanted to open them and pour them in......it was his first attempt at opening those little milk packets and he did very well, only spilling a little bit on himself. Then home.....

As soon as we got in we checked Teletext, and You've Been Framed wasn't on! We settled on Meercat Manor instead, but got distracted when Sam made up a pizza delivery service with some lorries and a tractor, then we decided to make an obstacle course for his toy cars. We had a lot of fun with the first three cars to tackle the course, I think this game will be THE one for a few weeks. All too soon it was time to go.....

Altogether yet another brilliant Saturday that came to a sad and abrupt end. Lots of great, happy photos, which will be our memories in years to come. Love you Sam xx

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Busy Friday!

Source: Eddie2sox
Friday 9th March 2007, 9:32pm

Started with a hangover, ended putting Sam to bed, with a bit of this and that in the middle.....

0700 Internet Crash!

First thing this morning, cups of tea and vitamin pill in hand, I switched on the computer for my daily early morning "rounds", checking email, that kind of thing. Bloody thing wouldn't log me onto the internet. Tried and tried, no luck - instant BAD mood installed. I checked all the leads were connected properly....yes they were. Disconnected everything and reconnected. Still no joy. Feeling nauseous!

0830 Doctor's Appointment

Headed off grumpily in the beautiful morning sunshine to see Dr MacKenzie who's keeping an eye on my blood pressure and my potentially addictive personality. He spoke sense, as usual, I understood it, as usual. Knowing the theory is one thing, putting it all into practice, all the time, is quite another. Going back in two weeks.

0930 Jeremy Kyle - Annnnnnd Relax!

Took a few minutes out to watch Jeremy Kyle's show, today featuring people who have had terrible tragedies in their lives, children hanging themselves, brother's becoming murderers, lots of bad stuff going on. Sometimes these things make you realise that your own problems aren't as bad as you like to think.

1030 Want Some Work?

Phone rang and it was the woman in charge of distributing the Yellow Pages in King's Lynn. Several deliverers had let them down, and did I want to take on a round? In particular, the round that covers Tennyson Avenue, Swiss Terrace, The Maltings etc. YES! That's exactly where I live, what a coincidence. Arranged to go and collect my books at half eleven....

1130 Heavy Books & My Poor Car!

My delivery round requires that I drop off 523 copies of the 2007 Cambridge Yellow Pages. In the next week. And for that I will be paid £80. Not great money, not bad, and I can't afford to turn anything down right now. Because of the size of my car I had to make three trips to the collection site down Gayton Road, each time returning with my poor little car groaning and creaking under the weight. Books are now safely stashed away here, ready for my onslaught on Monday.

1230 Dinner - A Right Treat!

Treated meself to fish and chips for dinner, and picked up an extra portion of chips for Sam's Friday night chip butty......caught some of the dreadful Loose Women, how they get away with basically belittling men for an hour every day amazes me. Where's the other side of the coin, Rude Blokes, where a panel of misogynists spend an hour calling women slappers and criticising their fat arses?

1330 First Deliveries!

Decided to get cracking on the deliveries and what better place than my own flats. 50-odd books later and that's 10% of the job done!

1430 BT Helpline....

I decided to give in and call the BT computer helpline. After five minutes wading through automated options, my call was answered by "Monica", an Asian lady whose first sentence I could barely understand. Uh-oh. HOWEVER, this lady was incredibly good at troubleshooting, and within 15 minutes I had access to the Net, great! Thanks "Monica". Apparently the whole BT/Yahoo server has crashed, leading to lots of people with exactly the same problem as me.

1530 Hi Sam!

Picked Sam up, his temperature and coughing are much better, and we went to the park for a while. Lots of laughing and fooling about, then home for tea, juice, play, bathtime, more play, then a bit more play. I got absolutely soaked at bathtime, Sam was wielding his fishing net with wild abandon and most of the bath water ended up on me or the floor. Great fun! We discussed what we were going to do tomorrow. We had been going to the Excel Baby Show in London and then to an airport to watch the planes as we ate a picnic, but that's just too far right now, so we're going to the seaside instead. Bedtime was lovely, Sam was very tired and was asleep about thirty seconds after we turned the light off. Sleep well little fella.

2130 Better Update My Blog!

And hey presto, here's my first update in several days! Really busy and slightly weird day today, thank goodness it's nearly over. Can't wait for the morning!

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What's you wild-west outlaw name?

Source: Eddie2sox
Wednesday 7th March 2007, 7:16pm

You can, if you want, call me Crazy Dick "The Cannibal" Ryder from now on......

Nickname

(Third letter of your first name)

A Argumentative

B Wild

C Lethal

D Deranged

E Incontinent

F Moist

G Insane

H Dangerously Obese

I Syphilitic

J Bronco

K Infectious

L Buffalo

M Crazy

N Hopalong

O Snotty

P Unhygienic

Q Blackhead

R Loose-Bowelled

S Flower-Arranging

T Foul-mouthed

U Mad

V Limp-Wristed

W Sadistic

X Buffalo

Y Slim

Z Trigger-happy

First Name

(First letter of your first name)

A Dave

B Bonecrusher

C Brian

D Gristle

E Shorty

F Thumbs

G Hawkeye

H Lash

I Jim

J Billy

K Peggy

L Annabel

M Two-Guns

N Stretch

O Lefty

P Nigel

Q Rab

R Fingers

S Dick

T Eyepatch

U Bill

V Whip

W Alphonse

X Pat

Y Butch

Z BJ

Bonus Name (appears in “inverted commas” in your outlaw name)

(If you have a middle name, third letter of your middle name)

A The Argumentative

B The Hook

C The Slicer

D The Bastard

E The Needleworker

F The Wolfman

G The Disemboweller

H The Kid

I The Slightly Camp

J The Strangler

K The Itchy

L The Unwashed

M The Cannibal

N The Bitch

O The Effeminate

P The Antisocial

Q The Sightless

R The Impaler

S The Throbber

T The Lawless

U The Snake

V The Slasher

W The Whore

X The Erect

Y The Annoying

Z The Ruthless

Last Name

(First letter of your last name)

A McPartlin

B McGonagal

C Patel

D Kelly

E Hickock

F McTavish

G Muldoon

H Leghorn

I Rogers

J Oakley

K Doherty

L Cassidy

M O’Toole

N Ching

O Carson

P Mandela

Q James

R Ryder

S Wales

T Holliday

U Castro

V Garrett

W Karmel

X Wang

Y Clinton

Z Simpson

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Jobsearch Update

Source: Eddie2sox
Wednesday 7th March 2007, 11:03am

A week into the hunt for employment and surprisingly nobody has offered me £25k p.a. for watching Jeremy Kyle and Diagnosis Murder.....

Another Wednesday dawns, and I've made a first move on another three "jobs". The full progress report now looks as follows:

Job #10 : One Stop Shop - took the completed application form back, they're advertising for part-time shop assistants. Not heard anything yet. (Started 1 Mar 07)

Job #11 : Advert in the Lynn News wanting people to deliver new editions of the Yellow Pages! Email sent, awaiting reply. No reply to email so I phoned the number and left a couple of details. (1 Mar 07)

Job #12 : 7 hours cleaning per week in King's Lynn. Going to visit the premises this afternoon and have a chat with the lady in charge. (1 Mar 07)

Job #13 : 25 hours a week secretary/admin job at Hardwick Narrows. CV posted. Not heard anything yet. (1 Mar 07)

Job #14 : Meter reading in the local area. Phoned them up, they're sending me an information pack. (7 Mar 07)

Job #15 : Distributing Norfolk Citizen adverts paper. Left my details with the nice lady, the boss will get back to me with details of any local rounds available (between 50 to 500 papers per round). (7 Mar 07)

Job #16 : Cleaner at Springwood school, various shifts available. They will contact people to arrange interviews at the beginning of next week. (7 Mar 07)

So there you have it. I would be prepared, reluctantly, to give up some time with Sam midweek if I have to, but absolutely not my Friday/Saturday time, which unfortunately rules me out of quite a few jobs. Who knows, some of the above may come good!

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Computers For Schools 2007

Source: Eddie2sox
Tuesday 6th March 2007, 10:00pm

If you don't collect the vouchers for computers, would you consider collecting them and I will gladly take them off your hands....

I did ask this question in an earlier thread, but thought it worth repeating. If you don't collect them, PLEASE start!

For schools this is literally "money for nothing"....and all you have to do is say one word...."yes".....when the checkout staff ask you if you're collecting. Not a lot of effort involved is there? I'm not extolling anyone to spend twice as much each week, just to say "Yes" instead of "No".

In the previous blog entry, a commenter (Davina) replied thus:

Tesco Coupon Con

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Look At The Streetlights!

Source: Eddie2sox
Tuesday 6th March 2007, 2:14pm

"Look at the streetlights, such a pretty sight", say The View....."Look at the streetlights, vandalised again", says me.....

On February 12th I told you how the council had been super-quick in fixing all the lights along a dark stretch of the pathways in the local park. Today I noticed that vandals are already costing us tax-payers money.....

It's hard not to think that the people doing the damage are those who stand to benefit from such actions, maybe they're the ones who mug people in there.....it's not a giant leap of faith to connect the two things is it......

Fortunately the problem has been recognised, and as part of the refurbishment and improvement of The Walks, "vandal-proof" lighting is being introduced. Good thinking. Quite how "vandal-proof" the new lights will turn out to be is yet to be seen!

Anyhow, before I finish, I just want to say that I will be passing through The Walks, this Thursday coming, about 6.25pm. Any of you big, tough "men" who like to relieve people of their possessions and money - see you there! Let's see how you get on with a 30-something bloke instead of an 80-something old lady....

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Tesco - Quick Apology!

Source: Eddie2sox
Tuesday 6th March 2007, 11:27am

In an earlier entry I bemoaned the fact the Tesco weren't honouring a special offer currently running for re-using bags....

Well! My bad. Yesterday I checked my receipt after buying ingredients to make white chocolate rice krispie cakes, and noticed:

"You will receive your double Green Clubcard Points in your May statement."

Sorry Tesco!

Computers For Schools 2007

This promotion has now started again. I know a lot of people don't bother collecting the tokens, HOWEVER! This year, if you are traditionally non-collector, could you possibly start collecting, and I will gladly take them off your hands at the end of the promotion (13 May). THANKS in advance, love you all, mwah mwah!

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Hero!

Source: Eddie2sox
Monday 5th March 2007, 3:22am

I have plenty of bad dreams, so now a good one has woken me up I'm going to record it for posterity

Believe it or not I was playing for Leeds rugby league, before they became the Rhinos. As an added bonus we were playing at Elland Road, no idea why.

It was the second half and I managed to run in a try directly behind the posts, And it was down to me to kick the conversion. I placed the ball pointing between the uprights (is this how they do it?) and calmly slotted it between the posts.

Not an earth-shattering dream, but unusual in that it woke me up and wasn't a nightmare. And people were singing about what I did..."United! Leeds! United! Leeds!"

Makes a change.

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Grim Sunday!

Source: Eddie2sox
Sunday 4th March 2007, 5:21pm

Weather-wise, but in most other ways my life is going fine right now....

Picture

I think I will take a snap out of my living room window each Sunday, and we can see the passing off the seasons and weather....as you can see today is wet and wild, yuk.

Tesco

Went shopping earlier....got awarded 2 extra Clubcard points for using me own bags - yet according to Tesco's own website there is a special offer on right now that you get TWO points per bag. Seems the branches don't know about it. I am still waiting for a reply from Tesco about my suggestion to increase the "green" Clubcard points per bag re-used from 1 to 5 as a better incentive. Today the sweet lady behind the till slipped me a voucher for a FREE "bag for life", which I will be using next visit!

Sunday Dinner

Cooking a proper roast dinner for myself, roast beef, roasties, loads of veg......I don't normally bother though, especially since I'm making so many healthy meals. But as a treat.....AND I am making enough that I can put a plateful in the fridge and have it for dinner tomorrow too! Horseradish sauce is one of my favourite tastes. Hurry up dinner!

Majority Of Teachers Are Unpleasant Shocker!

Had a major spat with a lot of teachers on Friday night, but I'll write about that tomorrow....you will NOT believe it. I'll provide quotes as evidence.

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Lunar Eclipse

Source: Eddie2sox
Sunday 4th March 2007, 4:21pm

Anyone else go out to freeze their nuts off?

Last night the lunar eclipse was really beautiful, did anyone else take time to have a look? It was amazing the way the shadow moved slowly up the Moon, then it turned orange, fantastic.

Sorry about the pic, but with a phone camera you can't do much better!

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What's Wrong With Grandad This Time?

Source: Eddie2sox
Sunday 4th March 2007, 2:32pm

Was the question Sam asked as we drove up to pick up Nana and visit Grandad in hospital on Saturday....

But more of that later.

Friday Night, Saturday Morning

Friday was good, visited my CADS worker and things are still going really well. Picked Sam up from nursery for his weekly overnight stay. Sam's mummy has always made Friday night a "treat" night, which basically means Sam has a chip butty for tea, with "real chip shop" chips. Last week we went out to get the chips and it wasted some of our time together, so this week I got the chips while I was in town and microwaved them at tea time - Sam thought this was a good idea too! Before his tea he had a big bowl of grapes to eat, and as a reward for eating all the grapes and chip butty he had a Penguin biscuit for his pud. After tea, during a performance of The Old Bamboo dance from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Sam came a comedy cropper over his armchair (see pic), which led to us both lying on the floor laughing and unable to do anything for a few minutes....

A friend in America sent Sam a parcel full of puzzles, postcards, a teddy bear etc, and we had good fun unpacking this and looking at all the items. There was so much in there that it will last us a few weeks exploring the contents. Thanks Farah!

Friday bathtime was great - one of the "baddies" was spotted lurking on the edge of the bath so a plot was hatched that I'd run the bath and then Sam would sneak up and push the bad guy in.....baddies HATE getting clean. The plan worked like clockwork, resulting in one very disgruntled axe-wielding troll. To add insult to cleanliness, Sam noticed that the green one appeared to be wearing boxer shorts made of chainmail, and now that particular bad guy has been christened Metalpants - he's not happy as you can imagine (even his Bad Boss the Minotaur has been taking the mickey about it). Bedtime went nicely, despite Sam getting up a couple of times on dubious grounds, and Sam was soon in the land of nod.

Saturday morning and Sam didn't pad into my bedroom until after 6, bargain! We didn't do anything special all morning, just had fun together, and popped into town to visit Poundland (long live Poundland) to find Sam a motorbike. Had a drink and some muffins in Costa Coffee (Sam "pulled" ANOTHER of the girlies in there, Georgette I think her name is, how does he do it?) and then home. We had some time on the Interweb, mainly browsing the online Lego shop, as Sam has been saving up for something special from there. More progress with his computer knowledge, we learned how to open and close windows on the screen, what the Back button does, and how the vertical scroll bar works (and Sam made a valid point, when you click on the up arrow on the scroll bar, everything appears to go down, and vice versa!). I made Sam's picnic dinner, we set off up the A17 to Sleaford, and picked up Nana at twenty to two.

Sam And Saving Money

For a few months I've been developing the idea of saving up money with Sam. He didn't really appreciate the principle at first, but as his savings have increased we've started looking at things that he can buy with his money - WHEN it is enough. So we've spent quite some time drooling over lovely Lego sets on their website, Sam especially fancies the Ferrari team lorry, which costs £49. I updated his building society book on Friday, and we counted the money in his piggy bank, and the total was £45. NOW Sam suddenly seemed to "get" the whole point of saving up - the lorry was suddenly within his grasp. Indeed, he explained about saving to Grandad when we visited!

Hospital Visit

Sam's Grandad (my Dad) is in hospital again. Fluid's built up in his abdomen again, and needs draining - exactly what this fluid is nobody seems sure. Dad had heart problems and a cancer diagnosis last year, and we were told in Novemeber that he has between a day and a year left. Things have seemed to going well though, and Dad has been talking positively about next Christmas etc. So, to hospital, us kids take it in turns to take Mum to visit Dad, and of course to see the old boy ourselves! Dad's looking really gaunt, with a swollen tummy, but seemed pleased to see everyone. Sam was an absolute star, telling Grandad lots of things about his life (the fair, Lego, nursery etc), plus his cow joke, and Grandad loved hearing it. When we'd been looking at the Lego website we were pretending we were making a Lego model, looking for the next piece to add, looking if we'd dropped it under the table etc, and Sam told Grandad all about this too. I hope Dad's procedure happens sooner rather than later, so he can get home again as soon as possible. Just before we left, Sam needed a wee so we popped into the toilet opposite Dad's bed. There was a cardboard bedpan on the sistern, and Sam said "Look Daddy, someone's left their hat here". Of course I had to try it on, and we opened the door to show Grandad which made him laugh. He seemed really sad at the end of the visit and appeared to be close to tears when he said "Goodbye Sam", so sad.

As an aside, on the way out of the hospital we met a lady who had been visiting the patient alongside Dad. She stopped us and complimented Sam on being "such a good little boy in there". He was of course, but it's lovely to hear it from a complete stranger.

So, we took Nana home, and Nana gave Sam two toy motorbikes that Grandad had told her to find (we didn't know until we got there). Sam was obviously delighted, even more so when Nana gave him some pocket money - enough to take his savings up to the amount that he can afford his Lego Ferrari lorry! Yeeee-Haaa! We got home pretty late, I chucked Sam's tea on (Hidden Veg Sauce Bolognaise), Sam played, then we watched You've Been Framed together before heading back to Sam's mummy's house. Sam switched off everything in the car, and our time together was over again....

We had a good time together this weekend, despite the circumstances of the hospital visit. Sam was really loving, and hugged me a lot this week. I guess I must be doing something right. Sam can do no wrong in my eyes at the moment. Roll on Tuesday evening, see you soon Sam xx

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Needing A Job Or Two!!!

Source: Eddie2sox
Thursday 1st March 2007, 3:56pm

Well, it's reached the point where any job will do now.....

Got the RAF payment through yesterday so I filled the car with petrol, bought some stamps and envelopes, paid maintenance to Sam's mummy, and sent a cheque to my counsellor and an apology for having to stop the sessions. This month will be pretty tight, so I've decided to widen the search for employment. After applying for 9 part-time placings recently (received just 2 "thanks but no thanks" replies), chosen because the hours fit with the times I see Sam, it's apparent that in order to pay the bills I might have to reconsider some time with my little fella. Hopefully not.

So! Today I went for:

Job #10 : One Stop Shop - took the completed application form back, they're advertising for part-time shop assistants.

Job #11 : Advert in the Lynn News wanting people to deliver new editions of the Yellow Pages! Email sent, awaiting reply.

Job #12 : 7 hours cleaning per week in King's Lynn. Phoned them, still waiting a call back.

Job #13 : 25 hours a week secretary/admin job at Hardwick Narrows. CV posted today.

Needs must when the devil drives....

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Credit Where Credit's Not Wanted!

Source: Eddie2sox
Thursday 1st March 2007, 3:37pm

Or.....how to cancel your credit cards in one "easy" hit....

Today I was ploughing through the last month's mail, and decided to cancel some old unused credit card accounts once and for all. When I was with Sam's mum we opened credit card accounts to take advantage of their free balance transfers and shuffle the same £1400 around for a while. I was shocked this morning to finally count the accounts - five of them! All with zero balances now I am debt free, but with HUGE potential......the total credit available to me, instantly, was £18,800, unbelievable. The cards are long since cut up and binned and the monthly statements have been going straight through the shredder.....

Here's how I got on cancelling the accounts completely:

Lloyds TSB

Called at 1408, answered by Efficient Francis. After a few security questions she finally asked why I'd called then told me she couldn't close accounts and I would have to call the Customer Value Unit. Nice Patricia answered, asked me the same security questions, then cancelled the account. Both ladies asked me why I wanted to stop using their services, to which my standard answer to all the companies was "I'm starting nursing training soon and want ALL temptations removed". Just before hanging up Patricia wished me good luck with the training. Call ended 1426.

Egg

Called at 1446, answered by Happy Lauren. Two security questions, then the account was closed, call ended 1449, top marks!

Virgin

Called at 1450, 3 minutes worth of "press 2 if you're still alive" etc. Eventually Polite Nicole told me that she couldn't close an account, I had to call the Closures Department. At 1455 Bodacious Jacqueline answered, and apologised for the delay, telling me that hers was a very busy department today, so many people were calling to speak to her. What a nice lady, with a very seductive telephone manner! She also asked why I wanted to close the account, and when I told her we had a brief chat about how her mum had just finished her nursing diploma too, and she started when she was 35, so I will be able to manage too "as long as you do all your homework". Call ended 1457 with a really cheery "Good luck Simon"!

MBNA

Called at 1458. On hold until 1505 when Stressed Wendy put me through to the Closures Department. Cheeky Rob asked why I wanted to cancel, and was the first person to try to persuade me to keep the account open - only once though and he gave up after that one try. Call ended 1507 with another "good luck with the training".

Barclaycard

Called at 1508. Indian call centre, I could barely understand the lady on the other end. I did however pick up "system problems, please give us a call after one hour", then she put the phone down!

In Summary

So, my findings are that calling these people is frustrating while you're ploughing through the automatic options, but once you get through to the operators they are all efficient, and nearly all actually warm human beings (wouldn't mind finding out exactly how warm Virgin's Jacqueline is!).

All, that is, except Barclaycard!

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