The Last Post.......

....of 2009!!

Well its New Year's Eve. I'm in the house with himself, Ollie, the cats, a bottle of Baileys and chocolates to enjoy. As they say, the diet starts tomorrow!!

It snowed tonight, which made driving "fun"! I was pleased to get in! It was quite funny driving through the town centre seeing girls dressed for the night out in their 6 inch heels trying to make it through the snow - well, been there done that (not on 6 inch heels mind!)

So, as I type this there is 1 hour left of 2009. It was an ok year for us actually, certainly an improvement on 2008! We both still have jobs, we sorted out the financial mess that my 2008 redundancy left us in, we had some weekends away (some more successful than others!), my mam's cancer checkups were clear, I discovered the world of ATCs, flickr and blogging thereby making lots of wonderful new friends, I got back in touch with an old friend, I took Ollie to his first ever dog show where he won two rosettes, mam was well enough to do not only the Pink Mile Walk but she also did the Race for Life - I was so proud of her! Also I managed to persuade himself to open a flickr account - not before time!

All in all a fairly decent year.

Lets hope 2010 is even better for us and all of you too!

Disgruntled to say the least!

I'm getting really fed up with the way this country, well the world for that matter, is changing for the worse.

Yesterday, I had a problem with a credit card, phoned up about it and spoke to several people in call centres in other countries who either could or would not understand what the problem was. It is so frustrating when a so called "help"line is actually in reality a "hinder"line. The phone connection was bad and the people I was trying to communicate with had strong accents which I struggled to fully understand and they clearly had the same problem with me. This is not acceptable when you are trying to sort out important financial matters!

Following on from that we went shopping at a certain well known 24 hour supermarket. At the self service checkout (I consider these to be a real cheek because part of the cost of your grocery shopping goes to pay the wages of the shop staff) we had a problem scanning some items which led to a mild dispute with a staff member who called security to deal with the matter! For goodness sake, this was so obviously a customer service issue and not one which warranted security intervention! We were so dissatisfied with the way this was handled that we left the shop without completing our purchase! The upshot of that is that we certainly will not be using that particular store again. No way!

I'm so tired of people who have a small amount of authority in their jobs speaking to me like I'm nothing or stupid. In all of my jobs it has been incredibly important to me to remember "the customer is always right" and to be polite and pleasant at all times. Now it doesn't matter who you speak to, you can expect rudeness, ineptness and to come away dissatisfied. It is a surprise and a novelty when someone is actually pleasant and good at their job - come on people that should be the norm!!

I'm also shocked at the amount of rubbish that people are prepared to put up with. I feel like I'm always writing letters of complaint and wish more people would take the time to do so, rather than just a hard core small group who are willing to stand up and say NO!

Himself says the more crap people take, the more crap will be dealt out. I agree with him wholeheartedly. Slowly but surely we are being worn down so we expect shoddiness and its just not right!

We should all make it our New Year resolution to stand up for ourselves and demand the service and respect that we pay handsomely for.

Rant over!!

Moon

Himself has been experimenting with moon photography! I'm well impressed with the results but he's a bit miffed as the pictures aren't as focussed as he would like. This is because the camera has an auto-focus and it seems a bit baffled by the stark brightness of the moon against the blackness of the night.

Soooo........

Well that's the Christmas madness over for another year! I have to say I did have a great time, despite my traditional bah-humbugness!

Thank you to my fab Dad for a wonderful Christmas lunch and to all of my wonderful friends and family for the gorgeous gifts.

I've taken the week off work and hope to get something constructive done (even though Monday is gone already!!).

I've decided to do a 365 photo project and I'm aiming to start on January 1st. I'm not going to have a particular theme, although I think these things tend to have a way of finding their own themes somehow. I'm not sure where the photos will go - maybe on flickr; maybe on here....watch this space!

Himself is also setting himself a similar challenge and the rivalry should be adequate motivation for both of us, I hope!!

Its Christmas!

Hooray, its Christmas Day! I hope everyone has a magical day!

Blurry Hawkwind

I think I need to be taller..................

Himself doing what he does best........................

Brrrrrrr Again

Had a fab time last night at Hawkwind. The journey was a little hair raising though - all I can say is its just as well I drive like an old lady!! Not the best idea in the world to park in a space on a slope either..........

The snow has now turned to ice and its like an ice-rink outside. I'm not looking forward to driving to work tomorrow - lets just pray for a rise in temperature overnight!

Works Christmas lunch to look forward to tomorrow - hurrah!! (Early finish too :-))

I could really do with another week before Christmas. I think the shopping part is just about sorted but I still have cards to make for my parents and himself's mam. I predict a busy week ahead!

Brrrrrrr

Its everso chilly. We had a touch of snow yesterday which is now ice. Lovely :-s

We are venturing out to see Hawkwind tonight, assuming they haven't been snowed in at Glasgow that is!!

I've been doing some last minute card sortings and I'm about to send my ribbon angels off to their new homes.....I'll miss them! However, one of the ladies I work with gave me some lovely buttons yesterday so I feel a button angel coming on now!!!

I can't believe that its nearly Christmas already!! Last week I had an experiment with a very easy chocolate truffle recipe and was extremely pleased with the result! I'm going to make some on Wednesday night as Christmas Eve treats for my work friends and another batch for the family on Christmas Day. With a little dash of Southern Comfort they should warm everyone's cockles!!

Here come the girls!

Ribbon Angels

I've been making some ribbon angels (idea from http://www.tentwostudios.com/). They are really fun to make and very pretty. I'll take some photos when the glue has dried!! I'm loving paper dolls at the moment!!

Cleaned out!

Well all the cards got posted this morning. I nearly had a fit at the counter though - nearly £10 to send everything!! EEK!! The Post Office is a funny place, its the one place where you take lovely things in, pay money and come out with nothing!!

Shattered!

Spent the evening parcelling up ATCs! 7 envelopes here all ready to ship off tomorrow (if I wake up in time to catch the post office!!) I've been making my own envelopes. They arent perfect but I'm getting there! I find them easier to stamp etc when they are flat.

More fab stuff!

http://countdown.tentwostudios.com
This stuff is simply faberoony!

Pamper Night

Went to a pamper night at a local pub last night. it was a fundraiser for the Macmillan Nurses - a very worthy cause. I had a hand massage and a facial, although I've managed to chip off most of the nail varnish already!!
I had a win as well - a lovely teddy bear :-)
They are doing another night in February - might just have to get along there again! Next time I fancy a glitter tattoo - they looked great!
http://www.glitterbodyart.co.uk/

Amazing Stuff

The stuff on here is just wonderful and I need a 40 hour a day, 12 day week so I can actually make some stuff!!!
http://www.tentwostudios.com/