Just gotta say....

Currys suck! Notorious for cock-ups and terrible customer service (one of my pet peeves), they didn't disappoint. John went to collect the fridge-freezer but the model we ordered wasn't at the store. Appears it wasn't ordered at all and they said they could deliver it Tuesday instead. Well obviously we're gonna be in America so John made noises and insisted that he took away the display model with a discount of course. He managed to get £25 off so that wasn't bad.

When John got home with it, he discovered it wouldn't fit through the front door! There was no way we could get it down the alleyway either so we had no alternative than to remove the front door and also take the doors off the fridge in order to get it in! Now it's in the breakfast room, it looks absolutely huge and will get some getting used to.

Over and out (again)

Countdown to my hols

Only three days to go now till John and I go to the States. Started to get a few things together to pack; I'm pretty sure I won't forget anything coz being Miss Organised, I've made a long list! John's already finished - that's men for you: two of everything and you're done! Tomorrow evening, Maria (our friend who's looking after the house/cats) and my parents are coming over so that we can tell them how to operate the alarm system. Usually we just leave it off but this time decided that if they choose their own combination number, we can change it back to ours when we get back. Safety first!

It's been a up and down week and it seems to be going really really slowly. The fridge breaking was an annoyance we could've done without but the new one will be here tomorrow. Fortunately, John managed to borrow a small fridge from work so that's been a saviour.

Earlier this week I was given a 'star of the month' award at work. As my team leader knew I wasn't keen on wine or chocs, I was asked what I would like as an alternative, so I chose a book voucher. It's always nice to be recognised for the job you do, even if it's just a simple thank you.

The weather's been glorious - it'll be a shame to leave it behind coz it's gonna be much hotter where we're going (approx 90 degrees), which is a tad too much for me but c'est la vie.

So this will be my last blog entry for a while. Expect a full report of the holiday when I get back, although it'll probably be after I've caught up on Big Brother, which Al is recording for me while I'm away. Sad I know, but I just can't miss out on 15 day's worth. :-)

What great timing

We're off on our hols this Saturday so what happens today? The fridge part of our fridge-freezer packs up! It's been happily doing its job for the past 13 years and it decides to die this week. I met John straight from work and went to Currys to get a new one. John took a fancy to a posh model in light grey colour, loads of room inside and a mere £549! Having looked at the other ordinary ones in the showroom, I soon agreed it was really nice and we should get it. John's gonna borrow a van from work and collect it on Thursday so at least we'll only be without a fridge for another day and a half. At the moment we're freezing water in bottles to put into the fridge to chill the food, and we're also using a cooler bag. Lord knows how people used to survive without fridges in days gone by, especially in the summer.

This is the second thing to break within a week. My car speakers blew a few days ago - I know that's not life or death but it's just so annoying listening to music with bad quality sound. I'll get those replaced after the holiday; I just hope nothing else goes wrong this week and for the two weeks we're away for that matter. On a previous occasion when we were away, all our electrics blew and our poor friend Maria from over the road who was house/cat sitting, had to deal with it. They do say things happen in threes. Uh oh!

Couch potato sporty weekend

Saturday afternoon: Wimbledon women's singles final between Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin-Hardenne. France v Belgium. A very tricky one to predict but what was for sure was that there would be a new winner. It was the first time in years that I didn't mind who actually won. As I thought, it was a tight game and went to a third set with Mauresmo coming through as victor 2-6 6-3 6-4. Well done to her!

Saturday evening: I didn't actually bother to watch all of the 3rd place World Cup match between Germany and Portugal because it clashed with BB and also because it's a bit of a 'who cares' situation. Anyway, the Germans won 3-1 so at least Portual didn't win any further games after putting England out.

Sunday afternoon: Wimbledon mens singles final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Switzerland v Spain. Roger hasn't lost for three years so you always want the underdog to do well, however, you know in the back of your mind that it ain't gonna happen. And it didn't. Nadal didn't even win a game in the first set but then took the second to a tie-break which Federer also won. The third also went to a tie-break which Nadal took, and made the match look a little more interesting. However, he was outplayed in the next set and Roger won his fourth title in a row 6-0 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (2-7) 6-3. I just can't see anyone beating him ever! Whilst his oponents are scampering around the court, he seems to just glide back and forth with minimal effort.

Sunday evening: The World Cup Final. France v Italy. A very unlikely final - I actually predicted Brazil v Germany with the Germans winning on their home soil.

The game got off to an exciting start with a penalty being awarded to France after only 6 minutes. From the replays, it doesn't appear that the defender touched the attacker before he went flying. Zidane, in his last ever game, took the spot kick and cooly chipped it off the crossbar. Italy got back into it after 19 minutes after Materazzi rose above the defnders to head the equaliser. No further goals were scored during the 90 minutes and so there was extra time. France seemed to be on top but then a moment of madness fron Zidane when he head butted an oponent in the chest for no apparent reason. Although not seen by the ref, the assistant put him straight and the red card was justifiably shown. What a stupid way to retire from the game, especially when he's had such a great career. Italy couldn't capitalise with their 11 men and so it went to penalties. I don't know how other fans feel, but I really don't think finals should be decided this way, despite the drama. Anyway, only one man missed and he happened to be in a French shirt and so Italy became World champs for the fourth time.

Happy birthday Kasey Leah!

I can't believe my little niece is 5 years old today; I don't know where the time has gone. I went round to see her straight from work only to be faced with a house full of screaming kids. She was far too occupied with her little pals to bother with Auntie Looby and she couldn't care less about opening her presents. They had a bouncy castle in the garden and so there was no stopping them. When they briefly came indoors to fill their tummies with sugary nicities (just to ensure they'd be hyper enough to last all night), I decided it was adult time on the bouncy castle. Gawd, I haven't been on one in donkey's years and after only a couple of minutes I was cream crackered. I don't know where kids get their energy from............oh on second thoughts.......it the sugary stuff isn't it?!

This piccie was taken last year when Kasey started school. I can't believe I haven't got any newer ones, not that she's changed a lot, but I really should take some more.

Now I'm home I regret stuffing myself with fairy cakes and chipsticks. I really don't feel too great!

Guess what?

....I was awoken by ANOTHER car alarm going off last night! This time it was about 4am. I wonder if I'll get an uninterrupted night's sleep tonight?

Update: John has just informed me that he was woken up by another alarm at 1am.

Update 2: The same alarm that kept me awake the night before last is now going off again. It is now 10:10pm. John has just gone out to investigate and discovered that it's actually Richmond School's alarm. He rang the police station and because they couldn't really give a damn, asked John whether he'd actually tried to call the school!!!!!!!! Rather sarcastically John asked whether that was really his job. They then told him that someone would be attending the school to sort it out. One minute later it stopped.....................Till the next time. Pah!

Arrrrrgh!

Don't you just love it when you've only been in bed two minutes and someone's bloody car alarm starts going off! That's what happened last night just before midnight. Weeow Weeow Weeow Weeow Weeow! What gets me is that the whole of Richmond Avenue can hear it, yet the owner of the car couldn't. It went on for ages. John even got up and went outside to investigate but the car was right down the other end of the street. I ended up putting cotton wool in my ears - I couldn't bear to close the windows coz it was so hot. Finally it stopped about 20 minutes later. Hoorah! Now I can get some sleep......... .Just as I felt myself drifting off, one of my cats (who must have snuck out when John went investigating), starting meowing from the ledge outside the window. ARGH! I opened the window wider so she could jump up and get in but did she wanna know?! I gave up and went back to bed. Just as I was drifting off for the second time, the cat annoyingly started meowing again. I couldn't be bothered to go downstairs, turn of the alarm, open the door, let the cat in and then turn the alarm back on. So I tried the window again and this time she jumped in. I promptly scooped her up and chucked her out of the bedroom. Surprisingly she didn't start meowing at the door. That, she would leave until the morning before I was due to get up!

I'm now adding car alarms to my 'Grumpy middle age woman list' which is basically stuff which irritates me and make me go ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!

The existing list is as follows:

1. Pregnant women who smoke - I mean, just how selfish can you be?
2. Smoking in general - yuck
3. People with clipboards in the high street (promotions, surveys, catalogues etc) BOG OFF!
4. Drivers who don't indicate
5. Parents who don't strap in their kids in the back on the car - just how ignorant are you?!
6. Parents who ignore their kids when they're speaking to them
7. Grand prix motor racing (mainly the sound of it)
8. Any form of cruelty to animals (needless to say, the same applies to children)
9. People who don't venture anywhere other than Spain or Greece for their holiday - there IS a world out there you know!
10. Neighbours with big gobs
11. Pigeon shit on my car, especially when it's blackcurrant colour
12. When justice isn't done, ie appropriate punishment for criminals
13. When you fancy a particular thing to eat, then go to cupboard and you don't have it
14. Councils who dig up green fields and replace them with hideous housing estates or roads
15. Crap customer service - does anyone care these days?
16. Printers, fax machines and photocopiers that don't do what you've asked them to
17. Parents who feed their kids crap because they're too lazy to cook
18. Mariah Carey
19. Spitting
20. Rudeness and foul language
21. People who take up the whole of the pavement and don't move even though they can see
you coming
22. My local Asda - it's such a shithole. They don't look like that on the telly.
23. Bad grammar, spelling errors and incorrect use of punctuation (or lack of it)
24. Getting up in the morning and that nasty sound which is the alarm clock
25. People with no common sense, especially work related
26. People who use mobile phones whilst driving
27. Mess and disorganisation
28. People who barge into your back when waiting in a queue (usually in the Post Office)
29. Door to door salespeople - BOG OFF! If I want something I'll pursue it myself!
30. Jehovah's witnesses - I'd like to choose my own religion thanks
31. Junk mail, especially flyers from poxy pizza places - I must get one every other day!
32. People who basically don't give a shit about anyone else
33. When a certain person I live with gets something out and doesn't put it away again
34. Body odour. Believe it or not, deodorant HAS been invented.
35. Unreliability
36. Footballers who dive
37. Rap and hiphop - one day I may actually slit my wrists
38. Stupid and lazy people who park across our drive
39. People who say to vegetarians 'why is it that veggies eat stuff that looks like meat?' Like we have a choice? We buy what there is available! And why slag us off anyway? Are we not allowed to have principles?
40. Chelsea FC, Manchester Utd and Arsenal
41. When the internet is slooooooooooooow, and when blogger is playing up (which is next to always)
42. Parents who don't adequately dress their kids in winter, mostly the lack of gloves. It's particularly annoying when the adult IS actually wearing gloves!
43. People who slag off Big Brother but have never watched it
44. Girls who walk around fiddling with their mobile phones as if it's an extension of their arm - you can let go you know!
45. Constant sniffing. GET A TISSUE & BLOW IT!!!
46. People who deliberately drop litter
47. People who eat whilst speaking to you on the telephone
48. Bingo
49. Drink driving
50. Last but not least, those poxy car alarms

There's probably even more, but I'm gonna have to add them as and when I think of them or when something new makes me go ARRRRRGH!

I feel better now - it's good to get things off your chest now and again, don't you agree?!!!

Isn't it ironic?!

I'm referring to my recent entry about the tennis and in particular Britain's Andy Murray. Did I jinx him or what? He has a stonker of a game and beats the number 3 seed and then the very next round, he gets beaten really badly in straight sets by a guy from Cyprus called Marcos Baghdatis who is seeded 18. Ok ok, Murray isn't actually seeded and maybe we expect too much too soon, but how can you play so well one day and then play so awful the next? Maybe it's the lack of British stamina.

Oh well, No Briton to cheer on for the last week. Still, the Americans have done just as badly - I don't think they have any representation left in either the mens or womens competition, AND they have a far bigger country than we do!

I remember the day I used to book a week or two off work purely to watch Wimbledon. Sad I know but each to their own and all that. One year I might actually get to go there like I've be saying for the past 117 years!

Very upsetting

I was happily watching GMTV this morning whilst eating my breakfast, when they featured another Born Free Foundation appeal to free three lions in a French circus. I'm actually welling up writing this entry but earlier I was sobbing my heart out for those beautiful creatures. Being a life long animal lover and having seen lions in the wild, I can't think of anything much more cruel than caging these animals up in the searing heat, and then having to perform to mindless people who should know better than to support such a terrible thing, all in the interests of 'entertainment'. It makes me so angry I could scream.

This is taken directly from Born Free's website:

"Becks", "Rooney" and "Stevie G" as we affectionately call them are three lions currently held at Circus Ullman, touring near Riberac in the Dordogne, France. They live in a beast wagon that measures approximately 18ft x 6 ft x 8 ft high, divided into 3 compartments. That’s the sum total of their world, a few square feet in a beast wagon.

According to the local authorities Circus Ullman does not have a permit to keep these lions and has instructed the circus to surrender them to the Born Free Foundation and One Voice. This is our chance to rescue them and relocate them to a new home in Shamwari, South Africa. The alternative would be life in another circus.

There are two females, Nala and Shada, (eight and 15 years old), and Jengka, a male thought to be at least 15 years old.

They're Coming Home!

We do not know when they first came to Circus Ullman but records show that they have been held captive there for several years. In the last 12 months, One Voice, the campaigning French animal welfare group, has been working with the authorities to reach a long-term solution for Shada, Nala and Jengka. If we are able to rescue them and send them to our sanctuary in South Africa, they will share a large natural bush enclosure of several acres – and enjoy life under the African sun – a far cry from their tiny beast wagon and the cold European winter.

While we know they have been allowed to breed in the past, fortunately, all three are being kept separately at the moment. In Shamwari, the females will be given contraceptives to prevent further unwanted cubs being born – there are so few good sanctuary spaces available in the world, and these must be saved for rescuing big cats in urgent need.

The costs of rescuing these lions is going to be about £30,000 and it will cost about £2,000 per year to look after, care for, treat and feed each lion.

Needless to say, I've already sent my donation and I can't wait to hear the news that these poor animals have been freed. I'm sure after the exposure on GMTV, it will be achieved.

Pleasant day, pleasant company

Yesterday we had our first barby of the summer. And what perfect weather it was! John's cousin's hubby was over from Australia to collect his 7th Dan in martial arts in Thurrock and brought three mates with him. I found the picture (left) on the internet - Tony is on the far right. Goes to show how good he is.
This is a excerpt from an article on the net, which mentions him:

American – Australian Martial Arts Exchange 'Report'

Early Sunday morning Melbourne University Sports Stadium came alive with the bellowing voices of dedicated athletes practising the smooth calculated moves of martial arts. Soke Tony Ball was the first Aussie on the floor a well accomplished competitor and headmaster of Fundoshin Martial Arts. Soke Ball performed a well executed form to the delights of the audience and then called in Daniel one of his students for some self defence drills using the short stick (jo). Josh another of Soke's students perform a free form ki kata to complete Fundoshin's presentation.

There is a video clip of Tony in action, but it won't let me copy and paste.
http://www.martialartalliance.com/Videos/ball1_tech1.mov

As his time in Essex was brief, we had Tony and his Aussie mates over, John's sister Jacqui, her hubby Kevin, nieces Jenny-Lee and Charlotte, John's brother Christopher, his wife Sandy and baby Joey. My Mum and Dad was also invited but couldn't make it till later in the day.

It was all very nice - the food was yummy and the company was lovely. Aussies are great, they always seem to have a good sense of humour and I just love the accent. Before you know it you're talking like they do - 'no worries mate' etc etc! My parents turned up as most people were leaving and so more cooking was required. We all sat in the garden into the evening (no gnat bites to speak of luckily) and it was a nice end to the weekend.

What a performance!

No, not football. Tennis this time. What a nightmare Wimbledon being on at the same time as the World Cup.

I just watched the third set of the Andy Murray v Andy Roddick match. I switched over and was amazed Murray was two sets up. He of course, is the new star from Britain (he is in fact Scottish) and at only 19 years old, he looks quite a promising prospect for the future.

Well, some of the shots Murray was making, I actually felt the need to clap at the TV. He also took the 3rd set making it a straight sets victory against one of the best players in the world. I think even Roddick was stunned at some of the balls that were coming back to him over the net. GO ANDY!

Wimbledon said goodbye to crowd favourite Andre Agassi today, aged 36. What a good player he has been - a great ambassador to the game, entertaining to watch,and not bad to look at either!

Another shock was the exit of the reigning champ Venus Williams who went out to Jelena Jankovic. I'm glad - it gives someone else a chance to win.

Gutted

England 0 Portugal 0 (1-3 on penalties)

Just had to compose myself and wipe away the tears before I made this entry. Before you thought it could get any worse, yes, yet another agonising penalty shoot out.

You have to say it was another mediocre England performance, although when you think about it, we had a lot more shots at goal than Portugal did.

In the 62nd minute Rooney got tangled with a defender and the ref blew for a free kick. After seeing the replay several times, it appeared it was just a straight forward free kick to Portugal, but then Cristiano Ronaldo sticks his oar in and insinuated that Rooney had stamped on the defender's leg. Rooney showed his frustration at this accusation and pushed Ronaldo, but not with any great force. The ref then called him over and amazingly produced the red card! Unbelievable! Then the camera captured Ronaldo winking as if to say 'I sorted it'. What a bastard. Rooney and Ronaldo both play for Manchester Utd so I wonder what the atmosphere will be like at pre-season training?

So it's like deja vu. Two years ago in the Euro Champs, Rooney gets injured and then we end up losing to Portugal on penalties.

To be fair, we played better with 10 men than 11. Aaron Lennon had come on for Becks early in the 2nd half as a result of an injury and again played well. You can honestly say that there were a lot of good performances by individual players again: Hargreaves was a trooper and all the back four were solid. However, we have to play as a unit in order to improve and go further in tournaments.

Even in extra time, we came close a couple times with the ball in the 6 yard box but it just wouldn't go in. Penalties were inevitable. And with our past record, you are already defeated before you've taken them. There was just one ray of hope when Portugal missed two of their penalties levelling it to 1-1 but then it all fell apart once again. England just can't take penalties - we're hopeless. We need some coaching from the Germans.

It's hard to find a positive but I've got to say a big WELL DONE to the English fans out there. They've done us proud with their non-stop singing and chanting, and caused absolutely no trouble. Patriotic and passionate we will always be about our football.

Ok so now we move onto a new era. Sven is no more and Steve McLaren is the new boss. Let's hope he can do a better job.