WTF.....to coin a crude phrase

The Coca-Cola wagon was here in Morecambe today.
What I really don't get is why people were almost "thronging" to see it.
Surely one HGV is much like another, despite livery and lights?
Maybe I missed out on a life changing moment, but I very much doubt it.
This wagon is to me, all that is wrong about this time of year.....crazy consumerism.
I love the family gathering aspect, but stuff like the Coca-Cola wagon, are just opportunists jumping on the more and more commericialised aspect of Yule

By election victory!.....Really?

I don't usually blog about anything political, but two things have caught my attention after the last two by elections.
My points to ponder are......OK, UKIP have got two MPs, but they were both the sitting MPs....so are the electorate voting for UKIP,  or are they just happy with how the MP, whatever his coat, represents them?
I for one would love to see how they fare in an area where the MP is NOT defecting to UKIP.....I think that might result in a different outcome.
My second point is, if the Tories did not have a majority, how many more defections can they stand, before the Tories, plus the lib dems aren't a majority?
Is it possible that the sitting government could be faced with being a minority?
I'm just puzzling these things.
Any answers, ideas.....send on a sealed down envelope, or postcard to........!

Still not right

Following on from last week's post.
The doctor prescribed some different pills to cope with my nerve pain.  He only gave me a week's worth, just in case they disagreed with me.
And here I am, again, not fit for work as they have also made me disorientated, but these haven't really done the pain killing.
I'm so frustrated, as I don't know if there are any more alternatives.  If there is and they come from the same "family" of drugs they might have the same effect on me.
I might be wrong, but it looks like I might just have to put up with the pain.

Random acts of kindness

Has anyone heard about this idea?
When I first heard about it, I thought.....that's not me
Yet, when I look back on things that I have done recently, perhaps I do commit "random acts of kindness", but to me they are just the acts of a decent human being.
What do you think of this idea?

Getting it right?

Earlier this year, I was diagnosed with spinal stenosis.
In late July I had a pain killing injection into my spine.  After 14 weeks it wore off. While it was working I had no pain at all. However, when it wore off I got pain again..  So, I saw the doctor in order to try to get someone to lessen the pain. I can't take certain medications due to reactions to them, or they interfere with other medication that I have to take.
The doctor decided to try me on something....I don't have any pain, however, I feel like I am going to fall over when I move around, and it feels like I can't think straight.

Silly Sunday, or should that be sad

I'm not sure why, but for some reason I have just started to cry. A feeling something like a wave of sadness washed over me and I just started to cry.
Usually when something like this happens, I find out later that someone I am close to in some way has had something happen to them.  I know that sounds vague, and odd, but starting to cry is odd too.

New me?

It's now half term.  Yesterday I had a lazy day, and finished the second front of an Aran cardigan that I am making.  The pattern is strange as you knit the fronts first.
Today I went to Galgate to get my hair done......I was very brave, I'd been thinking about having my hair shorter for a while, and today I just asked Fiona to cut it to suit me.
I'm very pleased with how it looks, she took around 4 inches off, and my hair has sprung up and gone from wavy to curly.

Beware, knitting needles!

I have just joined a Facebook group for knitters. A couple of days ago, a member posted about trying to buy knitting needles from a charity shop. I knew about this, but obviously she didn't. When she asked for knitting needles, she was told that they were kept "under the counter", as they were classed as dangerous weapons!  Yes, you read that correctly, in case you didn't know, knitting needles are dangerous weapons. The finer metal ones possibly, but a size 7mm plastic would be more likely to shatter.
As I said, I did already know about this and had been told that they weren't allowed to sell them, and had to bin any knitting needles, so the lady in question was lucky to be able to buy her "contraband".
Just another illustration that the world has indeed gone crazy.
For any readers in the USA, I think your equivalent is a thrift store.

Summer Break

I finished work for the summer break on 23rd July. I didn't plan much for the first two days.  On Friday I had an epidural pain killing injection for my spinal stenosis. The instructions from the hospital was to take it easy for 24 hours. The day after the injection I made a list of tasks that I would like to complete during the summer. I've done over half of them already, although one will take quite a while as it is doing the emulsion painting in my hall, stairs and landings. (Victorian terraced house.) So not a job that can be done in a day. I stripped the remaining paper, and now have to go round with the filler, and then touch up the gloss paint in a few places. I already have a feeling of achievement by finishing the stripping.
Some of the other tasks I can't do yet as they are appointments to be kept.

Under the skin.

Usually when you watch a film based on a book that you have read, you expect to be disappointed.
However, Under the Skin does not disappoint.  If you've read the book, which is one of my favourite's, you know roughly what to expect.  I will admit that I had not imagined Isserley as an alien, but when you read you make your own mental picture of the book.
Anyway, the film is very atmospheric, and we see our world through the eyes of an alien.
The film is not to everyone's taste, but it is excellent.
Perhaps it is best to see the DVD as you get all the extras, and can understand why parts of the book have been missed out.
I hope Michel Faber is pleased with his amazing book.

Not been here.

Well, sorry for the break in blogging. I've been without a device to post with.
However, I have done lots of knitting, and reading. Oliver, Edwin and Becky bought me a Kindle fire for my birthday. I'm just finding my way around it.
More posts will follow.

Scaremongering

I have noticed that there have been stories in the News about the influx of immigrants that will come "flooding" into the country now restrictions have been lifted.
If you  believed some of the stories, we should be finding it difficult to walk around without bumping into a Romanian or a Bulgarian.
Have you fallen over vast swathes of the aforementioned people whenever you go out?  No, me neither.
For even one person to come over here, it means giving up the life they are used to, leaving their friends and extended family behind.  It means coming to a country where they more often than not, do not speak the language, do not know the ways and customs of the country.  They are giving up what might be a very poor living, but at least they are familiar with it and know what to expect, in the hope of having a better lifestyle in a country where they will have to make adaptations to their lifestyle to fit in.
With all that in mind, are we really going to be "flooded" with immigrants?
I seriously don't think so.  The people who come here will be determined to make a better life for themselves.  They'd have to be in order to give up everything that is familiar to them and start afresh.
One thing that the scaremongers have missed out on is....if these people can come here, then surely the reverse is true, and we could emigrate to another EU country.
Personally, I think the immigrants who come here to work are very brave to give up what they know in search of a better lifestyle. 
And as for them "taking our jobs".  That is a sweeping statement if ever I heard one.  Yes, the jobs are there, but they are often jobs that many of the UK unemployed think are beneath them, either in skill level or wage level.
There are quite a few Polish live near me, and many of the men are qualified engineers and electricians, but they are just doing any job rather than be jobless. 
So, my point here is....how willing would you be to give up everything you are familiar with, and move 100s or 1000s of miles from your home in search of a better life?
I know I wouldn't, unless I had someone very special in the new place.

Promises to myself for 2014

I always think resolutions are difficult to keep, so I'm not making any, but I am promising myself that I will do certain things.
So here goes...
I promise to be kinder to myself and not torture myself about what I shouldn't eat and drink.  I will try to eat more of what is good for me, and less of what is bad for me.
I'm going to continue denting my yarn stash, and try my best to dent my fabric stash.
I'll read, but then again, seeing as my idea of hell is no books, that is easy to keep.
I'll try not to spend money on frivolous things.  (I don't do this much anyway.)
I'm going to try not to leave Yule gift buying/making to the last minute.
Try to stop myself getting stressed at times, as this just triggers problems with my asthma.
And lastly, I will try my best to finish decorating the stairs and landings, and possibly give the kitchen a coat of paint, and maybe the bathroom.
If I can manage to do these things, perhaps I won't feel so lonely.
I'm going to continue trying out a new recipe per week.  I've already tried two this week, minestrone soup and apple strudel.
As a last mention, I did knit a swatch of entrelac knitting before 2013 left us, so that one is another first.  I can now confidently knit the cardigan I want to make in it as I now know what I'm doing, and it's a lot easier than I thought it would be.