Vehicular rubbish

There once was a time when I quite enjoyed watching Top Gear. I'm not an expert on cars or a petrol head by any stretch of the imagination. But I can identify cars by more than their colour and have an appreciation for the fast and sometimes stupid. Why else would we own a petrol guzzling sledge if not to appreciate its 0-60 speed (on a straight dry road do not appreciate the speed with which it goes sideyways on an icy/snow covered road).
However, either I, or Top Gear, have turned a corner. It makes me grumble and question in an old woman type way.
What on earth are they spending my licence fee on?
Why are they spending my licence fee on sending three presenters plus camera crews to countries, which are at war. Surely if the programme brief includes paying for a protection detail it isn't entertainment?
I don't really care how fast a car can go round your track when it costs well more than my home.
There are a lot more examples of programmes that have made me want to throw things at their smug little faces as they clutter up my tv. I do try to be out when O watches it and I could always leave the room.
Sometimes, just sometimes they have a story that reminds me they are human beings after all. At the end of the most recent series they ran a story about recovery amputee soldiers and their goal to take part in the Dakar rally. Soldiers who'd lost limbs in battle preparing to drive one of the world's hardest rallies. Where sand and sweat could damage their prostetics because the camaraderie is keeping their spirits up. A below the knee "scratch" being an affectionate nickname for a foot amputation.
So the point of this? I wish the soldiers well. I thank the BBC for bringing their goal to my attention. I ask that the BBC make more of these type stories and be more sensible with my licence fee from now on. Please and thank you.
Check out race2recovery for more information

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I was working in a government office as a holiday job, it was my last week in the job before the start of the next semester.
We only found out through an email letting us know our security levels had been raised. 
We had to continue to serve customers asking to look through their belongings as a precaution.
I went home and watched the coverage in stunned silence.
Late, late that night I got a message from a good university friend. She'd been at the top of the towers the day before. Her flight had left JFK that morning before everything was grounded.


Remembering those who were touched and continue to be effected by the events of September 11th 2001.

Blook Club

Did you notice my shiny new badge? Over there, there, down on the right hand side! I'm a member of blook club, organised by the clever and delightful Zoe from Conversation Pieces. 

I say that I'm a member, however I'm unfortunately having to miss the first one. Cannot wait to hear how it went and what everyone thought of the book: How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran.

Enough of me wittering check out Zoe's post. She is much better at explaining.

Toothpaste

My Dad came to stay on Tuesday night. I noticed on Wednesday night when I went to brush my teeth that our toothpaste tubes had been squeezed from the bottom to the top.

This makes me smile. A LOT

a short commute

A long week at work ended unpleasantly with a minor emergency at the end of Friday. I tramped across the car park in the slight drizzle. Plonked myself into the driving seat and threw my hand bag and lunch bag onto the passenger seat. I started the engine and turned the cd up loud and sang along. I was halfway home when I spotted a little girl in the arms of her grandfather, she was laughing and clapping as he blew raspberries on her cheeks. I was almost home when I spotted some students running and laughing with carrier bags over the heads to protect from the rain which was now falling. I couldn't help but smile and the stress lifted. Weekends or days away from work are precious things. 


Have a good weekend. 

Anniversary day out

We went to the zoo, zoo, zoo

How about you, you, you?

You should go too, too, too

We went to the zoo, zoo, zoo.

Ok so I changed the words slightly but you get the idea. 

We spent our very sunny one year wedding anniversary at Edinburgh Zoo

photos by me or O

Birthday Girls

(image via pinterest)

Cass, welcome to the birthday club. Seems to be ok so far.


It was only this morning that I put two and two together and realised it was Lisa Marie's birthday too. Somehow I'd managed to separate the two in my head.


Happy birthday to you both

Blog Birthday 2

(from pinterest but etsy originally)

I've made it through another year!

My sisters and my "real life" friends have moaned about not having the opportunity to make new friends. How it is hard to meet like minded people and start conversations with them.

Inside I'm screaming at them, start a blog, start a blog. You meet the most amazing people and if you are lucky they become truly wonderful friends.

A day at the Festival

It is August, which means that Edinburgh is a crazy town. The fringe festival is here for the month. There are pros and cons to festival time. The obvious pros being amazing shows in a small space in a short amount of time. The cons being the huge amount of people trying to get between venues, or get you into their venue and filling every restaurant and cafe.

Last Saturday we headed through to Edinburgh. We went to see some great shows and despite getting soaked to the skin we had a really good day.


Live at the Gilded Balloon Podcast
The podcast is an introduction to different comics/shows that are on at the festival. So this was a great way to see a lot. We got to see Hal Sparks, Tom Green, Dave Eastgate, Jason Cook, Kerry Godliman and Michael Winslow. It was interesting listening to the podcast once it was published. They cut out so much good stuff from the live show. Each day the acts are different so it can be a bit of a lottery. 
It was here that I had my celebrity spot of the day. David Bradley otherwise known as Argus Filch from Harry Potter sat behind me for the recording. He has a really loud laugh. (I'm 99% sure it was him however if he was reported to be else where last Saturday I might concede that he has a doppelganger).


Eric's Tales of the Sea - A Submariner's Yarn
This was my least favourite show of the day. Not because it was bad simply because all the other shows were really good. Eric stands on the stage and tells you stories of life beneath the sea. 


Lady Garden
This was a last minute decision. So last minute and given the queue at the box office they actually had to hold the start of the show for us. We went rushing into the venue and the lady at the door told me there were seats at the front or we could sit separately, so I headed for the front. Please note this is a bad idea when seeing any show at the Festival. The show was great, a series of sketches performed by 5 female comedians.


(SPOILER: the final sketch of the show required audience participation. O was pulled from his seat and forced to slow dance with one of the comedians. My husband is a very shy man, he was mortified! He wasn't the only one, 5 men were made to get on stage. I'm convinced he was targeted because he was the best looking man there. They had to go several rows back to find enough men so I'm not convinced he'd have been safe wherever we sat. I do feel bad though, I think he is still traumatised.)


David O'Doherty
This was my favourite show of the day. David O'Doherty is hilarious with his little piano, songs and educational highlights.


Jimeoin
Jimeoin inside the Spiegeltent was our last show of a long and wet day. We have seen Jimeoin on TV several times and thought he was great. His show was good but he had a lot to try and live up to after David O'Doherty. I also don't think he was on top form as he complained about being jet lagged. 
The spiegeltent is a stunning venue - if a little cold.


All in all a brilliant day!


If you're in Edinburgh I'd love to hear what you'd recommend. We're thinking of seeing more.

Random Birthday Thoughts

O spotted and removed 3 grey hairs from my head (that is a photo of them, which you could see much better before I compressed the file. Now it looks like a picture of my hand). Well to be honest he noticed more but I was fed up of having my hair pulled.

I removed the piercing bar from my belly button. It has been there since I was 18. It hasn't been on display for a long, long time. I didn't expect to miss it but I do strangely.

I fully expect that neither of these pieces of information will be of interest to you. Sorry.