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Still on a high ..
Shopping coming from ASDA today ... whooopdiwhooop .. finally ASDA have started delivering groceries around cambridgeshire .. sooooooooo much cheaper .. and you can have all the George and homewares etc delivered too .. does a happy skip and jump .. new 'lavvy brush' for 55p hahahahahah
Laundry day .. and at 11.45 it's the 'Chip Van natter and gossip' group
the local chip shop sends a van around the town .. they arrive here at roughly noon .. too early for me to want any .. but the folks gather waiting the van to arrive .. picked up some really good tips for getting around town cheaply from going down to sit and join in the 'gossip' .. 
And at 2 minutes to 5pm .. I've just remembered I was going to the library this afternoon .. and they shut at 5pm ..
But I did put all my shopping away from ASDA .. washed the kitchen floor .. wiped round in the bathroom .. and sorted out all my rubbish for recycling etc ... just a shame I forgot the laundry and library
I'm back
My, you lot have been busy - not read back properly yet but hope everyone's well
Welcome home ... have you picked up an American 'twang' while you've been away
Yesterdays sudden onset of 'forgetfulness' was probably the precursor to my bad night .. a night filled with strange dreams to places I certainly didn't recognise as even being earthly ... weird ghostly shapes and figures that floated around .. very disrupted sleep .. waking for no reason .. and I simply didn't recognise myself in the bathroom mirror this morning .. my hair (general long straight and straggly) .. was in some sort of 'piled up on top' sort of shape that has just been unpinned and started to ttumble down ... a proper changeling in my place ... then sat in a 'white out fibro fog' for at least 30 minutes before I manage to get the thought ....... COFFEE ...
On the road to recovery now .. just made 2nd coffee and it's all starting to fall into place .. but a decidedly 'odd' night all round .. I've even looked outside the window to see if there are any obvious spacecraft landing marks .. felt very silly doing it .. but to be honest .. I rather thought .. well .. it's an explanation .. you see I've had these 'odd' nights before
.. always the same .. I 'dream' or 'am taken' to the strangest of buildings, shiny, tall, disappearing into the clouds .. smallish, ghostly figures that seem to float .. always the shock of looking in the mirror the next morning and not seeing 'me' .. and a genuine sensation of having been .. 'somewhere else' .. 
.. this morning I even got a mirror and checked myself all over for 'funny' marks .. and .. well ... ummm ... I know this is silly ... but I keep feeling as if someone is 'gliding' up behind me .. all very odd indeed ... 
First time it happened I well remember running screaming from my home (long time ago, married, in a quiet town suburb) ... and refusing point blank to go back inside until someone had opened every room and cupboard ... and I wouldn't go to sleep at night time for about a week .. simply petrified it would happen again ..
Now how daft is all that ...
Just thinking back to previous times .. first time it happened in my last home (happened 3 times in the 25 years) I was sooooooo scared .. it was around 3am ... I lived on the very edge of the village and just open fields to the horizon .. I ran out in my nightclothes .. leapt in my car .. drove to Ely .. and sat outside the police station until dawn broke
I wish I could remember 'more of' what I 'dreamed' about .. but it's always the same .. just a sensation of going somewhere 'strange' .. of being with 'people' I can't speak with .. and always the 'blank brain' feeling when I finally wake up .. and however hard I try .. and believe me I have tried and tried and TRIED .. I simply cannot remember any more than what I've put ..
So .. now you'll all think I am whacky ...
Coo - that sounds scary Toots, I have dreams that I'm in a haunted place sometimes but never anything that scary and there's always a part of me that seems to know I'm dreaming.
But this could be a solution according to the Beeb:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7628744.stm
Glad to hear about your little windfall that ASDA now deliver to your door. I'm such a posh old tart I use Ocado, LOL
Glad you had a lovely time with the Chuglets GC, you must be so proud of them all
Our holiday was lovely (no American twang LOL) I must say the accent does grate on your nerves a bit first thing in the morning when you're watching the news.
We saw the pandas at the zoo and went to lots of lovely museums and sat in Lafayette Square at all hours watching the various goings-on at the White House.
We're planning to go back again only later in the year next time, when it's a bit cooler.
Not enjoying the crappy old tube after the efficient Metro though
The Beeb sleep and smell bit is very interesting ..
In a way I would love my 'dream' to be real .. how exciting if I had really been taken off to a strange planet for a short while .. but then reality crashes in .. why me .. why not a celebrity .. aliens wouldn't be interested in a nondescript 'imperfect' thing like me ..
Streuth Ocado .. you are kidding me
...do you realise you are paying almost twice as much as you need to .... just try checking Ocado prices out on mysupermarket.com next time before you shop .. Ocado is massively more expensive .. Tesco is next dearest .. then Sainsbury's and for the shopping I do ASDA is way way the cheapest ... you could be going back to Washington more often if you shopped at a cheaper place 
At least search the Internet for some Ocado money off vouchers if you must shop with Ocado .. right now there is 25% off a £60 shop (ends today) .. that's a whopping £15 ... you'll find that offer on myvouchercodes.co.uk
Oh I know Toots but OH just lurves Waitrose food, besides which we've tried others but they're sooo unreliable.
I do the odd Sainsbury's shop when I can get a wekend AM delivery.
On the other hand I do get a discount at Waitrose when I shop there in person as I work for John Lewis.
That's OK then ...
I once worked in a meat processing factory .. one of the things we processed was lamb chops .. at that time we processed New Zealand lamb chops for M&S .. the Co-op ... and another large store that I won't mention .. the cages of lamb we used came from the same cold store area and in no particular order .. nothing was pre sorted or pre inspected .. but that's where the similarity ended ... M&S chops were always processed first .. the lamb would be at it's coldest from the freezer .. we had to trim practically every scrap of fat from the chops and neatly take the skin off the outer edge .. the chops had to look perfect too .. carefully matching up 2 identical looking chops to nestle together in twin packaging perfection .. we also had time limits to get the chops round the factory and back into cold storage .. this meant we worked at a furious pace .. anything outside the time limit was left for the next orders ..
The Co-op was always processed next .. they had the same standard for taking off the skin .. trim most but not all fat off .. and pile 4 similar shaped chops into one package ... we still had to get the meat processed before it got too warm of course .. but we did have a little more leeway .. (I dare say that's all changed now) .... the store I 'won't mention' was happy to have what we called 'the leftovers' .. chops where we hadn't trimmed them right or cut into the meat .. misshaped chops .. broken chops .. and we had to leave the skin on ..
All three shops had their own pricing requirements .. M&S dearest ... because they had the most trimming and presentation requirements .. then the Co-op .. and lastly the shop I haven't mentioned were the cheapest and had the least 'niceties' .. (incidentally it wasn't Waitrose and they are now a highly respected supermarket) .. but the actual meat was all from the same flock of sheep .. which is one of the reasons why I have never worried about buying meat from some of the cheaper supermarkets .. because in those days and for many years afterwards it wasn't the quality of the meat that made the price so different but the process that got it from the farm to the shop shelves .. over the last 5 years or so I believe this has changed quite a lot with supermarkets now dedicating themselves to specific farmers and using their own processing companies .. rather than buying solely from 'after the event' non specific suppliers ..
Hmmm ... let me try that again ... my link went all peculiar .. can't do 'fancy' short cuts in this forum perhaps ...
WaitroseDeliver - Get £15 off £75 online order twice
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/tipnote/discount-voucher-codes
There .. that's it in plain code .. that wonderful man Martin Lewis has this discount offer on his website .. he has permission to show the discount code .. I don't .. hence my fancy link which didn't work .. hahahah ... never mind you get my drift .. worth checking out as it's a whopping discount of 20% .. some restrictions and not all areas have the new Waitrose service ..
Heheheh .. I was 'up all night' searching for money offs for you .. well not really of course .. Martins email just happened to plop into my inbox a few minutes ago ... hahahahahh ....
Hey, thanks Toots
Gosh you were up early this morning!
Been waking up at around 3-4am for about 2 weeks now .. sometimes I read .. sometimes I get on the Internet .. last night I did a fair amount of my latest jigsaw puzzle .. a small village in a wintry forest with snow capped fir trees all around and many, many MANY snow mounds of all shades and shapes .. ohh yess .. and it's pretty much all blue .. blue/green .. blue/grey .. blue/blue ... blue everywhere .. only the subtle changes of the blue hues make up the picture .. ohh ,, and just to make it more challenging as if that were really needed .. there are only 2 shapes of jigsaw piece .. one long .. 2 prongs, 2 holes .. and one short .. 2 prong, 2 holes ....
Did a bit of surfing before going back to bed for another 3 hours from 6am to 9am ..
Toots, I think you manage the fibro extremely well. It just has to be such a hassle, managing the sleep/fatigue issues, and the movement/overstrain issues, and all the rest of it. And the mental disruptions must be the worst. But you are always creative and positive, and you manage to do so many things you enjoy, and do so much good for everyone around you. Tell you what, if I were an alien, you are JUST the kind of human I'd like to take back with me!!!
I was up your way this week, a couple of days in Cambridge. It was after your great weather, unfortunately, and I seemed to spend half my time feeling too hot and half my time feeling too cold! But it didn't matter. It was a good conference, AND I talked to a professor up there who is going to help me do some further research. (I asked if it was a totally crazy idea and his reply was: 'On first thoughts, it's utterly crazy. But of course that's no reason for not doing it. Maybe the reverse...' My kinda guy
)))
Screamy, it's good to have you back. Did you do lots of fun things in the US? You must have been in Washington when all the financial crisis stuff was brewing, did you feel it affected a lot of people arund you? I mean, Chuglet 1 works in Canary Wharf and she says the last couple of weeks have been awful, the mood of apprehension is palpable---was it like that in Washington?
On a brighter note, Chuglet 2 has had a fantastic Freshers' Week at Chester. He seems to have loads of 'mates' now, and loves the place. Lectures start this week, and after that we'll see.... At some point I assume the penny will drop and he will realise he has to a) sleep sometime and b) study sometime but for now life is good
)
Must go get lunch ready, but it's awfully nice to see you both again!! xx
Hi all... out of the mad work I had during August, then my computer and cooker both broke down in the same week. Needless to say I have a new computer, but the neighbours are having to put up with my incredibly noisy microwave (makes a sound between whale song and cars getting crushed). Picking up the pieces with the new computer!
Mick: unlikely, but your experience at the marathon reminded me of some old rumours. I used to go to the Greenham woman's peace camp, and there used to be a lot of rumours that the authorities were using the camp to test some crowd control devices. There were some strange events, such as a load of women throwing up, and one miscarrying at the same time. One time I told someone I was feeling a bit off, and got the reply 'oh yes, the zapping's on today'. There were a lot of speculations about what could be going on, I think one sugestion was microwaves, or that it was the radar.
I guess both your experience and the peace camp might be from the same cause, whether it be innocent or not! I do sometimes wonder if more concrete and less green actually means less oxygen in some city areas... I believe the wet weather means fungus spores have been high lately as well.
This financial malarkey is a pain in the derriere .. why oh why do politicians and the like stay schtum for soooo long when they know a flippin' crisis is brewing .. I dare say if someone somewhere had spoken up 3-4 months ago a lot of the 'disaster' might have been averted .. now it's the general public who once again will 'get it in the neck' .. and all because some jobsworths cared more about keeping their jobs than 'doing the decent thing'
I'm going to have to see if I can auction my old home this week .. it's not that I am having my own 'financial crisis' because I'm not .. well not yet anyway .. but the problem is mobile homes don't fare too well in the winter if no one is living in them .. so I either have to start the heating up again and pay folks to go ands spend a weekend in it now and then .. or face the obvious and 'get shut of it' as they say round here .. either way I am bound to lose £10k or more .. dratted credit crunch ...
Other than that .. having a good time .. started making my Christmas cards .. and we have the meeting .. to tell us all about the new kitchens that are going in here .. on the 7th Oct .. so I'm hoping I am going to like the colour options .. ohh well .. we shall soon see .. it's at 9.30am in the morning too .. so I shall have to take a pad of paper and a pen and write everything down so I can reread it later on once my brain has woken up heheh ..
Hi all, hi GC
Nice to hear from you Rowan.
How's the jigsaw coming along Toots?
The Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac bailout had happened the day we arrived and Leman brothers and AIG was going on as we were leaving but the news stations still seemed to be concentrating mostly on the election and there didn't seem to be any partucular buzz in Washington itself. There was a Ghanaian state visit at one point with lots of flags and dogs and secret servicemen, that was quite fun.
However at work we had a "budget" AGM in a terrible venue last week and will be having a "budget" Christmas party so it is all slightly gloomy. Furniture sales have gone through the floor. We are still doing ok compared with some retailers though.
Talking of Christmas I had a dream I was in a shop in the US with Daphne and Niles from "Frasier" buying Christmas cards and presents last night.
Bad time for selling isn't it Patootie? Someone I know, an elderly gent, sold his flat in London last year to move down to Devon with his lady friend but unfortunately the relationship hasn't worked out and she has left. He would like to come back to London but he's in a position where the value of his house has fallen and he wouldn't now be able to afford to live in the same area of London that he used to. Poor old chap.
The housing market has already crashed by 9% .. so I have had to reduce my asking price for my old home accordingly .. honestly .. can you believe it .. 25 years I'd been there .. and I chose this time to sell it ..
.. flippin' typical .. hahahahah !!!
Vista ... just wondering .. I have this on my laptop .. and to be honest I wish I hadn't bothered and installed XP instead .. now I'm not saying this is how it is for everyone .. but for the way I use computers I am finding this dratted Vista the least user friendly system of ANY I have ever tried including Suse Linux (when it first started years ago, not todays slick user friendly systems) .. .. seems to me whatever I do I need to make more entries or clicks to do it .. even logging on to web sites I use daily is a chore .. had to try my email site 7 times last night before it would let me in .. kept saying I was putting in the wrong details .. yet .. I know it was right .. PAH!!
I'm sure I must need to go into the preferences and change a few bits and bobs to make it easier to use .. and it continually tells me I am offline .. when in fact I am ONLINE .. it's acknowledged my wifi products .. but then stubbornly refuses to 'see' them once I am online .. I have never EVER had this much grief from a computer system ..
If this was my first computer I'd simply give up and not try to understand it all .. anyone else had any problems .. ??
Awwww, Patootie, even the credit crisis pales in comparison with a new computer operating system! I've been on Windows 2000 for---well, about 8 years now, since it's 2008
))---and I am simply dreading the day the company moves us onto whatever they move us onto next. I just wish they would stick with some standard ways of doing things: I don't even care if someone thinks of something more efficient. If I have to change how I do everything, it's LESS efficient by definition!! Really hope you get it sorted. Do you have any friends with teenagers? They usually know what to do.
(Aside: Mr C and I are dreading it when our third one goes to uni next year. It's not so much the empty nest syndrome---we have STACKS of stuff we've been waiting patiently for 25 years to be able to do again!---but who is going to know how to work the television????)
Joking aside, though, it's bad luck indeed to be selling your house right now when everything is so uncertain. It's possible that the market in general will improve in the next couple of weeks, if the US government bites the bullet and does this rescue thingy. I don't think they have much choice really: bailing out the bankers gets right up people's noses, but unfortunately the whole system is interlinked: and the apparent general prosperity of the last 8 years has largely been built on credit and so unfortunately the burden is falling on society in general cos the mess is too big to contain only to the obvious suspects. It's very hard on small people, especially the ones who have done nothing wrong and who trusted their governments to be keeping an eye on things. But if the governments DON'T do something like this, we really will get a recession and that will be no fun at all.
Sorry, didn't mean to be gloomy. Life chez Chuggs is good, although missing C2 (who is having the time of his life at uni!). I was up your way last week, Patootie, spent a couple of days in Cambridge at a conference. I also took advantage of being there to talk with someone about maybe doing some more academic work and while we started out both admitting it was a crazy idea, he's crazy too and has promised to help me. It'll take years, since first I have to learn to read mediaeval Latin (it's research into commercial law during the late 13th and early 14th centuries---yup, some of us deffo have weird taste!) but I'm as happy as a pig in a mudhole!
Working at home today as I have a lot of paperwork to do. But hope you are feeling better, and that the weird dreams have passed off so you can sleep properly again. It's EXTREMELY EXTREMELY WET here---is it with you? xx
Morning all,
I think the solution to all this to to be more like the French who are very cautious with their borrowing. I think part of the problem is that the crash as been such a long tme in coming, surely it should have been obvious that any economy run on credit couldn't be sustained long-term. It ws obvious to me and I'm no financial expert believe me!
Things will iron themselves out and readjust and growth will be slower and we will all just have to accept it. That said the media is having a field-day at the moment, nothing like a bit of doom and gloom.
Was raining here this morning but has stopped now. Think it will be a showery day. Flipping cold though, I am off to buy a new winter coat tomorrow - had the same one for 4 years so it's totally justifiable
Interesting area of study GC - I am lucky the OU isn't running a history MA at the moment otherwise I'm sure I'd find myself signing up against my better judgement. They will have a new one set up in a year or two though so I may well need to be talked out of it. Thing is it will involve local study and the last one I did was fascinating...
...Oh SHUT UP Screamy...la, la la, I'm not listening to myself
Morning good to catch up with you again
We were moving and now we are not ... our buyers pulled out just as we had got everything about ready for exchange. When we heard, instead of feeling upset we were actually relieved. Although we liked the new place I think in such times of uncertainty it seemed better to stay put and keep our savings instead of spending them on fees. So although we are a bit out of pocket with the HIP, solicitor fees etc we are really happy to be staying put so they did us a favour. Good luck with your sale Toots - I think those who are prepared to be realistic about price and dorp it to reflect the market like you have more chance of a sale than those who are sticking stubbornly to what they want to believe their house is worth.
It's my mum's birthday today. She's coming round and we haven't decided what we're doing yet. Though looking at the weather we may go to the cinema. I have booked tickets for the Sound of Music in 3 weeks time - I know she will love it (and I get to go too!!)
GC said: .. it's research into commercial law during the late 13th and early 14th centuries---yup, some of us deffo have weird taste!
Not weird at all .. although learning Mediaeval Latin might be difficult (and great to see Mediaeval with it's rightful 'ae' rather than the lazy Medieval now used) ... I have a fascination for Knights Templar, Scion, Knights Hospitaller, Crusades, Saladin, and the way the Roman Catholic Church 'ruled' much of Europe and the whole era all those things kicked off .. just reading a series of novels by Michael Jecks http://www.michaeljecks.co.uk/ who's books are Mediaeval murder mysteries .. obvious they are tales .. but with a very good smattering of authenticity for the language and customs of the time .. I just love the idea that Knights rode on superbly trained war horses called 'Destriers' .. serfs lived on 'assarts' and were called 'villeins' .. and that they had to keep the local gentry stocked with food and an income .. along with working their own patches of ground .. the whole topic of 'Mediaeval' is fascinating .. the way the land was ruled .. the fact that people were 'owned' by the gentry of the area they lived in and had to ask for permission to marry, move etc .. and yes the way commerce was done .. often those who had most would take from those who had least .. but it would be done with large documents written in swirly hand writing to show it was 'legal' ...
Screamapillar said: .. I am off to buy a new winter coat tomorrow - had the same one for 4 years so it's totally justifiable ..
Only 4 years old .. blimey .. and there's me with an old winter coat that's ... hmmm .. no that's wrong .. I haven't had a 'proper' winter coat since I was 15 years old
just give me a fleece or thick cardi and I'm as warm as I need to be .. 
.. I just hate the feeling of being 'trussed up' in thick clothing .. ! Hope you find a nice coat though 
OK .. we are all going to need this to keep up with GC's future emails .. hehehe
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/latin/beginners/
Now .. lesson 1 ..
Only 4 years old
You should see the state of the lining though
Hi all,
Hope you all had a good weekend.
What a result on Saturday! Went straight into Debenhams at 9.30, saw a coat on the third rack I looked at, tried it on, liked it, bought it (when I finally found a manned till point) and by 9.45 was on my way to BHS for a Bakewell Tart and a cup of hot chocolate - and there was £12 off at the till too!
Bo!!ocks. I posted a long message last night, but the dreaded red screen was around and I now find it didn't stick. Oh well....
Screamy, anytime you're free you come right over and we'll go shopping together. You obviously have that magic touch----anyone who finds a coat that fast is a magician!
Toots, you are a mediaeval fan too? Amazing! And terrific, we can all do this together! Though I have to admit the mediaeval mysteries have never quite gelled for me, I don't know why. As to learning Latin----I know that site, but here's one that's much easier!
I don't know what's going on but at the moment i seem to rush all day long and by the time I get to 11 pm I still have piles to do....but tonight I'm going to try to get to bed at a more civilised hour than 1.30! So I'm off for now, sleep tight all! MWAH!~
That's my kind of shopping .. in .. buy .. out ... and on offer .. well done ...
Yes GC ... I have been fascinated by Mediaeval times since my school days .. so much more interesting than other era's .. in many ways very 'modern' .. with folks travelling all over the known world, even though it was a slow process .. the way the Pope was practically ruler of the world as far as laws, allegiance, finances etc were concerned .. a 'small world' even when travelling long distances must have taken ages and been massively difficult .. one of my aunts researched back into our genealogy and discovered in the late Middle Ages one of our ancestors was granted the privilege of having farming lands within the outer walls of one of the kings castles .. a privilege rarely granted to 'ordinary folk' unless they had done something really brave or outstanding .. not sure how we lapsed back into obscurity after that though !
Last night 8pm'ish we had a power cut here .. !! One minute I was about to start washing up .. the next I was plunged into darkness lit only by the screen of my laptop .. ! Typically .. as luck had it our Scheme Manager had gone out for a meal ... so being one of the 'fitter' folks here I grabbed my little rechargable safety candles and my wind up torch and went to see if anyone needed a bit of help .. cutting a long story short .. I helped some of the other fitter ladies to round up the more frail folk and get them to the community area where the emergency lights were brightest .. made sure some of those who were bad with walking and didn't want to leave the 'safety' of their flats had a torch or one of my candles .. then raced back up the stairs to fetch one of my dressing gowns for a lady who had been too scared to stay in her flat and turned up just in a flimsy nightie ... and then sat and chatted with everyone .. 'important to keep morale high' ...
But it was quite sad to see how upset some of the older folk were .. a power cut and 'no scheme manager to get things sorted' .. still we got by and the power was back on about 30 minutes later .. I took one lady back to her flat and made her a cup of tea as she was still shaking .. but by then I was pretty 'done in' .. I'd been up and down the corridors and did the double flight of stairs TWICE .. so after sitting and chatting with her for while and making sure she was ok I came back here to relax and ease the knots in my legs (stair climbing!) .. as I turned into my corridor I had to laugh as all the little safety candles had been returned and were lined up outside my door ... all glowing and twinkling heheheh
And yes ... flippin' legs still doing a 'fandango' after all the walking around and stair climbing .. every time I started to fall off to sleep I was being hit with another muscle spasm .. so I've given up and thought I;d pop in here to post a few words
anyone who finds a coat that fast is a magician!
I'm still wearing it BTW. I'm saving my new one until we go up to Sheff on Saturday, it's my parents in law's Ruby Wedding.
I directed a medieval mystery play once but in modern dress, it was great fun. The language is fine once you get into the rhythm of it - a bit lke Chaucer I suppose.
Umm - I used to be a member of the Richard III society too. I realise some people still find him controversial.
Well done on keeing up the "wartime sprit" in your block Toots, you are an angel, honestly. Hope the pain in your legs has settled down now and you're having a nice little lie in. I could have done with one this morning
Had a couple of hours sleep ... then cramp hit again .. never mind .. it was worth the 'twinges' to feel 'useful' ... and I did meet a couple of folks I might not have met otherwise ..
Just wish it hadn't been last night though .. because today I have to clear my bedroom ready for my new wardrobes to come tomorrow .. but I'll get there ok ,. in my mind I have 'split the room' into 4 sections .. so I can clear a section at a time .. then rest .. then another section ... and finally tomorrow morning I'll only need to sweep the carpet .. good job I have a big lounge to fit all the bedroom things into
Mind you .. I'm still waiting for the 'official' phone call to say they really ARE coming tomorrow .. so I suppose I'll have to ring them AGAIN .. and see what's happening .. right .. one more cup of coffee and then I'll get started .. got my little wheels out ready to trundle things about .. shouldn't be too hard .. just a pain in the legs having to walk to and fro ..