I prefered McDonald’s before it got healthy. The chicken nuggets taste of nothing now they are all healthy and no additives and made of actual unbleached chicken etc. Bring back the E numbers!

The hamster walks! Yay-ness! I note that the Richard Hammond stories at the BBC website continue to top the Most Read ratings, so it seems like quite a few other people are still keeping up to date with how he’s getting on. And donations to the YAA are now over £200k – and most of that appears to be genuine.

Politics schmolitics at work – I was asked recently by one person if I liked another person and they seemed suprised that I genuinely generally like everyone. I am pretty gullible though so tend to see the best in people. Bitching is fun though – I wouldn’t be female if I didn’t enjoy that. At least we can all safely bitch about the powers that be; that’s expected.

I need to buy things. I want a new TV – I saw a Phillips flat screen HD ready monster in Currys – it was playing Star Wars (a film I’ve never seen) and unlikely most TVs which look like they are showing films, this was like a window into the set – the CGI was totally obvious and I sat staring like a lemon enraptured (can lemons be enraptured?) for some time. Suffice to say my ideas of “the cheapest flat screen around” has now extended to “the cheapest 26inch Phillips HD ready flat screen around”, which means the price is doubled. My little car is slowly dying but again my wants for a large 5 door 1-3 year old means my eyes are bigger than my wallet yet again. I need new furniture to house my new goods, and am debating whether to go for Argos (cheap, easy to put up, but looks cheap), or to raid the local 2nd hand furniture store, or to get something that will last. Complicated.

I had a bout of severe procrastination recently that seems to be resolving as I’m slowly attending to the to-do list. I need to get more to-done though.

And so after a crap day, moping muchly I come home, whinge about my noisy neighbours and mope about my bunny’s ashes coming back today (I’d been ok, but getting them back made me sad again) I come back to find out Richard Hammond’s in intensive care after crashing a supercar. And all I can think to say now is “Not him, not Hamster…”

You supported me so much, my darling, over the last few years. You were always there to ground me, always willing to be used as a hankerchief as long as you got a head rub out of it. We shared breakfast, and snacks; I’m sure there must be a cosmic law against rabbits eating beef crisps, but if so you considered yourself above it. True to rabbit-kind you considered yourself above everything, which included me, the cats that were twice your weight and any object foolishly placed in your path. You had so many challenges in your life, and all you fought with bravery and meant that all those doubters who said you’d never recover had to eat their words. You were too tired for this last fight though, and although I stayed up all night last night begging the gods to save you, even I saw this lunchtime that you’d no more fight left. I told you how much I loved you, and that I’ll always love you, and said goodbye. I saw a solitary magpie on the way back to work, and I know you passed on soon after I left. I returned this evening to find you gone. I told you to look for a man called James; Grandad will look after you. I’ll miss you so much, my darling.

Book – Song

Peanut Butter
July 1999 – 12th September 2006

Love you lots like jelly tots, my love.

To quote Draca – “Hmmmm”.

Lackadaisical is the word of the moment. After being on call Friday night and getting some odd calls (full moon) I had to work Saturday. After that I went home to catsit – Spock was locked up for 2 days as the resident fur-siblings don’t agree with him visiting. So now he’s hurtling around like a thing possessed, burning off two days worth of energy I assume.

However the rabbit has not fared so well – she wasn’t eating fab earlier today and panicked and flipped during the journey, and is now breathing rapidly and is wobbly. Not good.

I did actually make this in time for 5th of September, and then went out for a meal yesterday (5th) and spent this evening (6th) playing Pippa Funnell: Stud Farm Inheritance, and it’s now technically tomorrow (7th). However, as we all know, birthdays last a week in this house.

Freddie at 60 – now there’s a thought.

It is an obvious choice for today’s blog, but one that I think needs writing. Steve Irwin AKA the Crocodile Hunter died today after being stabbed/stung by a Stingray’s barb.

Although I did watch the show, I did so mainly because it was on back-to-back on Discovery. I wasn’t a huge fan, and did question the motives for teasing snakes etc., yet the death of Steve Irwin has left me shocked and saddened. I may not have agreed with everything he did, but I admired his enthusiasm for life and am somewhat envious that he got to do what he wanted, and what he really enjoyed. He’s affected so many people on so many continents – very few people have the same effect when they die. That’s quite a legacy to leave behind.And let’s face it – Steve Irwin got to be the inner child that wants to investigate the world, that wants to interact with other species and see how they react, i.e. he got to poke things that go “bloop!”, and I think there’s a little bit in all of us that wants to poke things (in a nice way of course).

Or maybe it’s just me. Either way, well done, Steve Irwin, and rest in peace.

Meh.

I was looking forward to today. I was dotting about a bit this week, and Friday was the day to be spent at my favourite branch. In the morning I was 30 mins late due to not checking the rota and seeing they started 30 mins early on a Friday – luckily those 30 minutes weren’t booked. The morning was fine – someone bought me a doughnut and we had a nice relaxing bitching session. Then pootled off for a meeting, which I was 30 minutes late for (but had an acceptable reason – hadn’t finished work at the branch). Then I decided to use my lunch hours (I had 3 after all) to take my car to have the exhaust changed, since I’d been sounding like a boy racer for a few days. This, it turned out, was optimistic at best. Despite being assured I’d be “long gone” by the time I needed to be back at work, the fit was not so kwik, although in retrospect I am sympathetic that my ancient car had corroded to such a degree that it took a well aimed whack to get the old exhaust to detach. And so, 20 minutes before I had to be at work, and while I was 15 minutes away from said work, I phoned for a cab which I was informed would be there in 5 minutes. Naturally it was not. By the time it had arrived I was supposed to already be at work, and the mechanic wanted only 2 more minutes, and in fact I had no choice other than to wait as I wasn’t out of work til gone 7pm, and the repair shop shut at 6pm. So I told the cabby I didn’t need him anymore, and despite me offering to pay for his time he went off on one that ended with a delightful threat that he hopes one night I need picking up, and he gets to tell me “where to go”. Suffice to say, I will be complaining with the full force of an extremely pissed off woman. Oh and telling everyone I know in the area not to use that cabfirm. I may well quote the story of a speaker my dad once went to see, who was shafted by a well known car rental firm, and weaves the story of that shafting into every speech he ever gives, and thus reckons that the answer to the car giant’s immortal words “Sir, you’re one man. We’re a multimillion dollar company. What could you ever do to us?” is now “damage worth several million dollars to their reputation”.
I got my first ever pay cheque yesterday, and my little Kitty car obviously felt that it had to save me from the risks of spending it all on computer games. Bless her. I’d probably have to pay to get someone to take her away, and yet still I pay £150 to fix baroque bits (got a tyre changed and tracking checked as well). Now that’s love.

OOO good event! My pet on PsyPets just gave birth in the last hour or so! Yay! Wow, my life’s just an emotional rollarcoster at the moment…