I'm Free!!!!

Just got news today... I am officially discharged from Bankruptcy as of the 3rd September!

That is a hell of a weight off my mind knowing what is happening in a matter of a couple of weeks' time...

Kar(ma) Crash

Well, I didn't come back to you on Saturday to tell you how my horses got on in the Grand National..

Two of my 3 choices got in the top 4... none of them managing to win (wish I'd had a quid on the winner though... 100/1 - wow!).

Our Flunky had a go working out how much I should have won this morning in advance of me going to collect my ill-gotten gains... and he reckoned that I should get something like £18... and I thought "Okay... at least I got more out than I put in".

Anyway, went down at dinnertime to collect the money... and the bookie gave me £38.13! Which came as a bit of a shock, but I decided that Flunky must have got his sums wrong.

So... came back to work, and asked him how he worked it out...

First Horse: £2.50 each way @ 14/1... so 2.5 x 14 / 4 = 8.75
Second Horse: £2.50 each way @ 7/1... so 2.5 x 7 / 4 = 4.37
plus 5 quid stake money back = £18.12 (or £18.13 depending where you do your rounding)

Meaning it looks like the bookie has given me £20 too much!

Now, the right thing to do for my karma would be to go and check with the bookie and tell them that it seems like they've made a mistake... but that £20 will instead take me and my pal for our tea in the pub tonight since we didn't go out on Friday night. I figure it's too late for me to save my soul by doing the right thing karmically... There's a room in Hell picked out for me already, all decorated in my least favourite colour and with Daniel O'Donnell's greatest hits playing 24/7!

What's the bets I get food poisoning as temporary karmic revenge anyway?

I did manage an honest win of £5 on the lottery Thunderball on Saturday night, though!

Come The Revolution...

... our local council, my bank (but less so) and the w***ers at TV Licensing will be first against the wall!

Okay, starting the saga with the bank... I checked my online banking today, and it said there was a charge for an "unpaid item" at £19.50. Now, I knew nothing about any items unpaid, so I phoned them to ask what it was. They told me "It's your TV licence... they tried to take a payment yesterday, and there wasn't enough money in the account, cause you only got your wages in today."

So this leads me on to my rant against TV licensing... I set up to make payments by direct debit, and I had to make 4 payments of something like £30-odd, starting in January and ending this month... and then from next month it would be regular payments of £11-odd every month.

For the last 3 months, the payments have come out on the 2nd of every month. But I've been April Fooled... because this month they decided they would try to take it on the first!

So I went home at lunchtime and tried to phone TV Licensing to see if I could make a card payment so that I would clear the unpaid payment, and I would know that the money had come off my account. But, oh no... because their system hasn't actually been told that the payment wasn't collected yet, they can't take a card payment... so I have to phone back on Monday or Tuesday once they've sent me a letter to tell me that the payment bounced!

Then there's the council... I sent my flatmate to pay the rent. It's the first week of the new financial year, and I knew that the rent had gone up, but I couldn't remember by how much... except I knew it was now £53-something. So she explained that we couldn't remember the amount, but could the girl check the computer? So the girl checked, and said that we had this week's rent, and a balance of £11-something from last week that hadn't been paid, making £75. Viki told her that we paid £11 last week, as per the letter we had been sent telling us that this was all that was outstanding to the end of the 2008 / 09 year, and could she please check again? So she pushed a couple more buttons and said "It's definitely £75". To which Viki said "No... We paid what we were meant to. Please ask someone else." So the girl got on the phone to the rents section... and the upshot was that their bloody computer still hadn't been updated from last Friday, and we had indeed made the payment, and were only due to pay £53!!!!

These things are sent to try us!

Oh, It's A Good Day...

…for singing a song!

I’m having a pretty good day today, all things considered! Okay, work is still work, but on the positives there are:

Not working tomorrow, and nor is Viki, so we’ll be paying a visit to the charity shops and Starbucks for a coffee!

Got a rent holiday this week, cause it’s the last week of the financial year for the council… woo-hoo!

Was at the nurse today, and I’ve finally got the compression bandage off my leg, and an elastic stocking on… and I can get a shoe on my right foot for the first time in almost 3 months! No more plaster boot that is so smooth on the sole that I go aqua-planing every time I walk on wet stones… Yesterday I almost did the splits in one shop as I walked in the door – led in with my right foot, which slid forward almost half a metre on the wet floor, and my left foot stayed where it was! And there I “stood”, wobbling and trying to prop myself up with my stick as I tried to stop my right foot going any further away from me, and causing me to have a walk like a duck with a hernia!

Not working Saturday, so a pint or two on Friday night to celebrate my new unfettered leg is in order, I think!

Got an electrician coming tomorrow to fit a TV aerial in the house, so finally I will be able to watch telly without every programme looking like it’s filmed in the dead of winter with a heavy snowstorm going on.

Can life get any better? Well, yes... I could win the lottery on Saturday!

This Isn't Fucking Funny Anymore!

Not that my life has been funny for a long time, but at the moment it is going down the toilet fast!

Let's see, some of the pertinent events for the last week and a half:

Sep. 4th - My auntie dies, and my bankruptcy is approved.

Around about the same date, I get a cheque for my share of Dad's estate... which (as I've already mentioned) will now go straight to my Trustees as part of my sequestration.

I've also discovered today that as soon as my bank is officially informed of my bankruptcy, my account will be frozen, and I won't be able to get another bank account (not even one without an overdraft)... Fine - except my wages are paid directly into my bank account! So, some day I'm going to go to the cash machine, and it will swallow my card and say "No, you can't have any money"... and what about my rent which is paid by standing order? No bank account, no standing order...

My bank have told me that I can get my wages paid into someone else's account, and there is someone who will let me do that, but what if my Trustees see that as me being "dishonest"? As it is, I don't know how much of my wages I'm going to get to keep!

Then there's my "assets"... Anything that is deemed a "luxury" can be taken and sold. I don't own property or a car or anything high value, but I don't know how far down the line they're going to go!

On the up-side, they won't take anything that's not mine, and the computer I've got at home is actually my brother's... and it's not exactly state-of-the-art anyway... I don't imagine it would raise too much money in a Warrant Sale!

And that was the final kick in the teeth last night... I had been playing Spider Solitaire, trying to take my mind off the shittness of my life, and then I went off to wash my hair. Was bent over the sink, and suddenly was aware I could hear a high-pitched sort of wail. Once I got my hair rinsed, I went to investigate, and there was my monitor... no power light, black screen, and making a really, really horrible high-pitched "wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" sound! And, of course, now I'm bankrupt I can't replace it! Even if I could afford to buy one, it would be repossessed. My only hope is to see if my brother has one I can borrow to go with the borrowed computer, or to see if the Orkney branch of Freecycle has anyone with one that they're giving away.

And then today I had a visit to the nurse with my leg (for which I'm back on anti-biotics) and they tell me that, if it doesn't start to improve soon, they'll start looking at a compression bandage because it looks like the blood supply isn't good enough for the tissue to heal itself. And compression bandages make it harder to get shoes on... Oh, joy(!)

And yesterday I got a phonecall to say that there had possibly been a sighting of my cat (that's a month she's been missing now). Not too far away from me. Headed up there a couple of times, but no sign.

So, I don't know what I've done in a previous life to deserve this, but it must have been really, really bad.

Cheque It In, Cheque It Out...

Today should have been a bit exciting, and a relief to me... I got a text from my brother this morning to say that he had got a cheque from the lawyers for his share of Dad's estate, and that mine would probably be waiting at home for me.

Now, it's not a HUGE inheritance, but it would have been enough to buy a new cooker to replace my 15-odd-year-old one that trips out my entire fuseboard if I turn on the small ring at the front, and to allow a cushion for emergencies while my bankruptcy (which is in progress) means that I can't get credit of any form... But I still had to report it to the Trustees over-seeing my application... which I did almost as soon as I heard.

And what did they say?

"We'll have that, thank you very much!"

So, in short, I won't get a penny.

Poor Dad... He would be so disappointed. He was so careful with his money, not treating himself to anything apart from a rifle among the books in the second-hand shops for so many years so that he had some money put aside to make sure his children were taken care of when he was no longer around (although none of us are "children" anymore)... and now it's all been such a waste. I wish he and Mum had spent the money on themselves and enjoyed it, and not this. I would rather have been left nothing but a couple of ornaments or a book of Dad's to remember them by.

I'm sorry, Dad.

The Laughing Buddha And His Stolen Mo-Jo!

Ever since I got one years ago from my sister-in-law, I've had a thing for Laughing Buddhas (or Hoteis, and I've got 6 or 7 of them in various materials dotted around the place.

There is a belief in folklore that to rub the Buddha's belly brings prosperity, and I do it hoping that I'm going to win the Lottery

However, last night my Buddha was taken advantage of, and his mo-jo stolen!

My brother was along, and he spotted the one in the living room window... "A-ha! Buddha!" he exclaimed, "Rub, rub, rub his belly!"... and he did!

Later on I got a text which said "Hey! Thank Buddha for me... £14 on the lottery!"

Bastard! He stole my prosperity!

Reasons To Be Sorrowful... 1.. 2.. 3...

1. As aforementioned, this morning I waved Viki off at the airport as she made her way - her LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG way - back to Hungary... wondering when I'll see her again without a webcam and being at the mercy of my MSN which keeps crashing, and her speakers which keep squealing and crackling until they have to be turned off, meaning she can't hear me.

2. Back to work and the idiot Flunky today. And did he cut me some slack since I was upset? Did he fuck!

3. Between saying goodbye to my Hunsis, and returning to the Hell Hole that is my workplace, I went along the Citizens' Advice Bureau and started my bankruptcy application.

Actually, there are more than 3 reasons... mainly tied in with my best friend leaving...

After work tonight I had to go to Tesco to get cat food... and as I walked round, I was so aware that last time I had been in there was with Viki and we had been having fun laughing at our Tesco and theirs (did you know that Tesco in Hungary sells cock rings!?) - and now I was back to miserably pushing a trolley around and thinking I couldn't buy certain things because they'd be gone off by the time I used them myself.

Stayed at work until about 7pm, because I didn't want to come home.

As I was walking about the street this morning before I came back to work, I kept thinking that just yesterday I'd been laughing and browsing in those same shops with Viki. Was in Trenabies on the way up to work to get a takeaway coffee, and the table we'd usually sat at when we had our lunch in there most days was free... but I couldn't bear to sit in. And even my latte didn't taste so good without someone (ahham) stealing glomps of it despite having her own double espresso every day!

And since coming home tonight I've had iTunes playing, and it's really been taking the piss out of me... either playing those songs that Viki had been playing on top volume while she was here (it's on shuffle, and the bastard thing has thousands of songs to choose from... so why does it keep picking Queen? And "Barbie Girl" was the real nail in the coffin). Or picking songs that remind me how alone I am...

"Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue?" (yes, I have brown eyes)
"Everybody Hurts"
"Over The Hills And Far Away"
"The Deepest Blues Are Black"
"Walkaway"
"The Power Of Goodbye"
and, currently, "There Is Always Something There To Remind Me" by The Beautiful South.

Bastarding iTunes!

In the week or so that Viki was here, and for a couple of weeks before, I never took my anti-depressants... never needed them... never felt down... But today I felt the temptation to vent my frustrations in the old way for the first time in ages. But I didn't... and I won't...

Instead I'm going to go to bed and cry.

A Weekend O' Woe...

My weekend actually started with a bit of excitement - I came home after doing my shopping and there was a "We tried to deliver a package, but your letterbox wasn't big enough" card from the Post Office... and immediately I got excited:

"Ooo! Someone's sent me a parcel! I'm not expecting a parcel! Wonder what it is?"

So, Saturday morning (starting work at 8am, so up at the back of 7) I phoned the Post Office about 10 to 8 to find out their opening hours - and they said the sorting office was open already. Gathered all my stuff, got a taxi, and got it to wait at the Post Office til I collected my goodies - and then up to work (about 2 minutes past 8) - costing about £4.

And what was my wonderful, unexpected surprise? 2 free energy saving lightbulbs from Hydro Electric! Whoopee-doo(!)

So, opened up at work, and went to take one of my anti-biotics, which I'd put in my handbag the night before... hadn't I? Well, no, I hadn't actually! So I had to close for 15 minutes at dinnertime, get a taxi home, get it to wait until I grabbed my tablets, and then take me back to work (I wouldn't be home again until after 8pm coz I always visit my brother after work on a Saturday to watch "Doctor Who" with him)... costing me £5 this time!

Was actually a reasonably busy day at work compared to the last few Saturdays.

Closed up at 4o'clock, did a few messages, and then headed at the usual time (just after 5pm) to the local Starbucks for me & brother's Saturday coffees... only to be told that - due to it being the arty-farty St Magnus Festival here this week - they were closing early before re-opening a bit later for "The Festival Dining Experience" for the arty-farty Festival goers!

So, feeling more than a little pissed off, I headed down to my brother's (I'd been there already after work to drop some stuff off, and he hadn't been home)... only to find that, in amongst the stuff I'd dropped off, was the spare key I had for his house... which was now locked inside his house, coz he still wasn't home!

At this point, I was severely hacked off, just wanting a seat and a coffee. Why didn't I go home? Because the key for my house was on the same ring as the key for his house... locked inside his house!

So I had to wander up the street a wee bit to the nearest bench and sit there and wait for him to come back from the job he was doing up the street... sat there for about 20 minutes looking (and feeling) like a numpty!

Did eventually get a cup of instant coffee at his house, and saw "Doctor Who" (not as disappointing as the last few weeks).

Decided to treat myself to a house special fried rice from the Chinese round the corner for my tea, before falling asleep on the sofa and wakening up about 10 to 3 in the morning. Dragged myself through to bed.

And I've been really lazy today... Just spent most of the day in bed, resting my gammy leg. It seems to be helping too... no wet bandage today, but my leg is a bit itchy. Not even had anything to eat until about half an hour ago... just rested with Harriet for company.

Don't think it'll be that long before I'm back in bed either... I don't get the chance to rest my leg any other day of the week, so I'm making the most of it.

How Far...

... down the toilet does my life have to go before it starts coming up again?

There's a lot going on that I've not been telling you - or anyone, really - about, but now I'm going to unburden... Don't worry, I'm not expecting anyone to have any answers, or even to read this... I'm just letting loose.

Firstly, there's what's awaiting me tomorrow morning. 9am I've got a meeting with the Citizens Advice Bureau to start the procedure to declare myself bankrupt. The repayment plan I set up never really worked, and was eventually revoked, and so this is the next logical step. I've thought long and hard about it, but it's all I can do. I can't risk setting up another scheme because there's a lot of uncertainty job-wise (and has been for months, but I thought it was over - alas, no), and I don't know what's going to happen to me. It does mean, though, that when Dad's will is sorted out, I'm probably going to have to hand over most, if not all of my share, to the money-grabbers... after I was the one left at home and unable to go off to college or anything because my parents needed me! Being born last, to older parents, really sucks!

Then there's the fact I've had a little 10p-sized sore bit (I say sore, but it's not really... it's just been weeping a bit) on my leg for the last few weeks, and I've been keeping dressings on it - changing them every day. But now the sticky bit of the dressings have irritated the skin all around the original wound, and it's all red and weeping even worse than the wound (since yesterday really... last night when I went to bed, the inside of the leg of my breeks was wet - and that's the first time that's happened). Don't really want to go to the doctor, because my practice is closed at the moment, and when I had to go to the temporary cover a while back, they were worse than useless.

Plus, yesterday and today I've had a stinking cough again... Sometimes it's a real struggle to stop coughing long enough to get a breath in. But, again, I don't want to go to the other doctors... plus, the boss is away a few days this week, so I'd really be struggling to get away for an appointment.

Oh, and last night the cats excelled themselves in the "pissing me off" stakes. I've had 3 days with no piss behind the door, so was starting to rest on my laurels a bit. Went to bed after a bad day and depressed evening, without turning on the light... climbed into bed, threw the sheet over the top of me - and something cold and icky landed on my leg! Immediately squealed and chucked it off me, then got up and turned on the light to see what it was - One of the cats had had a furball, and upchucked it on my oversheet! So I had to haul off the sheet and put the quilt back on again.

Hey, at least my lovely wee house is still making me happy (even if I haven't been able to get curtains or curtain rails for it yet... only nets held up with drawing pins). However, I'm a bit pissed off, because since I moved in, only one of my family has actually been along to see where I live now... I've not even had a "Good Luck In Your New House" card from the rest!

But on the up side, it's less than 2 months til Viki comes over from Hungary to visit. I'm really looking forward to showing her around and just having a laugh.

Well, I think that's all the crap off my chest, so I'll bugger off now.

Nothing To Report...

Well, nothing I WANT to report... so I'm focussing on music and waffle just now.

Maybe you'll hear about the shit stuff with money and decisions to be made and things like that in a couple of weeks (by which time I've got to make a big decision on the money & lack of it front), or maybe you won't...

But on the less-important crap things happening, Harriet is still pissing behind the front door (usually once or twice a week), and the reasonably new ivy plant I bought for work is barely clinging on to life... Julie, I need your green fingers! Do ivys need a little water, or a lot? Coz I watered mine and all the leaves shrivelled up... And do they like sunshine? Or no sunshine? HELP! Before the boss and flunky call in the local undertaker...

Oh, and the really pissing-off thing... I'm being charged over £60 by my bank for an automatic card payment that took me less than £10 over my overdraft limit for about a day... and it was for my broadband that I'd forgotten to cancel... and which I haven't got set up at home yet due to the problem with the phone line I had. So I didn't even HAVE the service I was paying for! Tried to get the bank to waive the charge, but no... my bank are bastards! AND my counsellor was fog-bound in one of the isles on Tuesday, so I didn't even have her to talk things over with!

Anyway, at least the rain's buggered off again, so I'm going to bugger off and walk home (since I can tonight without getting wet... last night I had to use my second-last £2.70 and get a taxi because it was raining... the last £2.70 was to get me to work this morning - Good job pay day is tomorrow).

Ta-ra!

Go To Hell...

Go Directly To Hell, Do Not Pass "Go", Do Not Seek Salvation...

Yes - That is my fate, I have decided.

Can't say too much about the wheres and whens, in case anyone who knows me reads this and susses out where I'm talking about, but I found a piece of paper with "Bank of Scotland" and a denomination 1 more than 9 and 1 less than 11 printed on it today - and didn't say anything to the person in whose prescence I found it... Instead, I kept quiet, bade my time... and then sneaked it into my pooch.

I didn't directly steal it - it was left behind by someone (I have no idea who, but probably was someone who'd been out on the piss - and if you do that on a Tuesday night, you can probably afford to lose £10)... and it was probably untraceable as it was somewhere that has a reasonably high level of traffic.

However, I was very close to saying "Oh, someone's lost a tenner", when I heard a little voice within say "Shush! Don't say anything... just play it cool..."

And I'll just state - It wasn't anything to do with work!

Scratch That...

Sum total of my lottery winnings (which I only got round to checking last night) was £2 on a scratchcard that COST me £2...

Took it back to Woolies at dinnertime and, as I'm borderline skint 'til payday on Thursday (okay, okay... I'm across-the-border-into-enemy-territory-and-can-see-the-whites-of-their-eyes skint), I was determined I was going to get the £2, and wasn't going to get another card... But when the guy behind the counter said "Do you just want another card?", I found myself saying "Oh, go on then".

Scratched it when I got back to work - and I won £20! Woo-hoo!

So my last £10 in the bank can stay in the bank until, hopefully, pay day! And I could afford a vanilla latte after work... yummy...

Not that much else of any note over the weekend... Not that impressed with my chocolate beer - which is a shame, because there's another bottle of it in the fridge.

Really enjoyed "Guilty Pleasures" on ITV on Saturday night... Did anyone else see it? I'm not really that big a KT Tunstall fan, but I have to admit her version of John Farnham's "You're The Voice" was really good, as was Sophie Ellis-Bextor doing "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" by Baccara.

The full line-up (in case you missed it) was:

The Feeling doing "Video Killed The Radio Star" (originally by The Buggles)
KT Tunstall doing "You're The Voice" (John Farnham)
Craig David doing "If You Let Me Stay" (Terrence Trent D'Arby)
Kelly Osbourne doing "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" (gravel-voiced Bonnie Tyler)
Amy MacDonald doing "Sweet Caroline" (Neil Diamond)
The Diamond Hoo Ha Men (Gaz & Danny from Supergrass) doing "Beat It" (Michael Jackson)
Sophie Ellis-Bextor doing "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" (Baccara)
Romeo & Angela from The Magic Numbers doing "Islands In The Stream" (Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton) - possibly my favourite cover of all.

All in all, utterly cheese-tastic!

Did bugger all yesterday.

In the shop working today.

And that's it, really.

I WON!!!!

..... £9

Tired And Twisty, Grumpy And Grouchy...

That's me today, as you'll no doubt suss out from the tone of the posts.

Woke up feeling really tired still, and really didn't want to get up... but I forced myself to. First up there was college... then the mobile phone issue... and a lack of lunch due to financial embarrassment (I've had £10 since yesterday - I had £20 available in the bank on Monday, but when I went to take out a tenner yesterday, I must have forgot a Direct Debit, because I had £5 available funds... and I needed £5 of the £10 in my purse for taxis today)... and spending all afternoon in a shop that stank of paint because the back room's being given a spruce up, which gave me a headache...

Never mind... come 5pm I managed a gingerbread latte because I had 6 stamps on my loyalty card, entitling me to a free coffee... and my last £2 (literally, I've got 0pence left... good job it's pay day tomorrow) bought me a thing of chips and a bit of black pudding.

Tomorrow's probably not going to be much better - back in the shop, and the painter's been in tonight again (NO... that's not a euphemism - I'm not hormonal, just crabbit!). And I've got to take my phone back to the shop.

Nu Shooz

No, not the cheesy 80's band... that's what (some of) my winnings went on yesterday, coz - Sod's Law - the pair I was wearing split on Friday. Still, I picked up a pair for £17, so I had £9 left over... and because of the winnings, I could actually afford a pair, and don't have to tape the old pair up to make them last a bit longer.

Came home from work last night, had something to eat, and then spent the rest of the evening with a cat sat on me... Minnie's become very loving the last few days (she's usually quite an independent cat), and poor Harriet (who's more clingy) doesn't get the chance for a cuddle... and she's feeling very down and jealous - to the point that she doesn't even purr or nudge me when I stroke her.

Boss still away... and work's slow...

Over The Weekend...

Well, that's it... British Summer Time is over... but the sun's shining outside (although there are really heavy showers every so often). It was nice to have an extra hour yesterday morning... it just seemed more relaxed, and I was more awake when I woke up.

Saturday night was pretty good... I had a quick nip to the supermarket for something, and I decided that I could just about afford £4 to get a couple of scratchcards... Came home, scratched them - and netted £20 on one and £6 on the other... Result!

Pizza, half bottle of Lambrini, and some telly was enjoyed later.

Sunday was pretty lazy... made myself an omelette for breakfast. Pasta, cheese sauce and a bit of smoked fish for dinner. Just chilled out watching telly with the cats - "The Simpsons", "Are You Smarter Than A 10 Year Old?" and "Cirque De Celebrite" (wtf is going on with the voting on that? Why aren't the ones who are crap ending up in the last 2?).

Woke up this morning with one cat on my chest, and the other next to my head with her paw on my ear!

Boss is away til Thursday, so it's just me and Flunky here. I'm working really hard.... ;^D

A Bunch of Bankers... Update...

Well, I got to finish work at 2o'clock yesterday, and headed to the Citizens Advice Bureau to see if I could get the first Direct Debit held off for a month, and that's sorted... and then headed to the bank to try and open a new second account, which is going to take 2 - 3 weeks to set up, but should happen... so, at the moment I might have to make payment another way next month, but then - fingers crossed - it should start running smoothly...

In the words of Abba... "Money, money, money... Isn't in the least bit bloody funny..."

Bloody banks! I'm still pissed off...

Million thanks to the local CAB though!

My Bank Are A Bunch Of Wankers!

Oooooooooooo.... I am SOOOOO pissed off today, you would not believe!

For the last 4 weeks, I've been paying £65 a week from my main account to a second account I have... and I gave the company who are taking care of my debt management scheme that account number so that they could set up a Direct Debit every month. Well, today I went into my bank and asked for a balance on the second account... I handed over my bankcard, and they told me "That account's been closed... Central processing have taken a couple of those £65's to pay off the overdraft and a bit of arrears..." (caused by their charges) "... and they've closed the account."

Result - not only is there no money in that account for the debt company to take next Thursday... but there's no bloody account for them to take it from! I can't raise enough money in a week for the payment I'm due them.

What the fuck are the bank playing at? They set up the DD, coz I got a letter from the debt company confirming it had been set up... and I had requested a new PIN for the debit / cashline card for that account, as I couldn't remember the original PIN - and it arrived in the post just within the last week... so how can they give me a PIN for a card on a closed account!?

So, tomorrow afternoon I'm finishing work at 2pm, and will spend the afternoon first at the Citizens Advice Bureau, trying a bit of damage limitation and pleading for an extension before the first payment's due, and sorting out what to do as Executor of my Dad's Will... and then at the bank, trying to open a new second account, and finding out what the hell they think they're playing at!

I won't name and shame my bank, but let's just say that Howard's a dead man if ever he offers me Xtra!

Aside from that, the day's just been boring work... with boss and flunky acting like The Chuckle Brothers! Then sorting and clearing more of Mum & Dad's stuff for a while after work... The living room is pretty near done - just the ornaments to get rid of and then a couple of items of furniture that'll get the heave-ho as well.

Well, that's about all... I'm going to bed now where hopefully the day can't get any worse!

God, It's Been A Week...

Yep, it's been a week since I've really written anything me-related... mainly because there's nothing exciting me-related happening right now... I'm severely skint, as this debt-repayment thing I've signed up to has started, and it's really starting to bite already.

I did manage to get rid of the first installment of furniture from Mum & Dad's rooms... their beds are gone to the dump, along with a wardrobe, a chest of drawers, and a pile of other crap... old stools, a trolley thing... you get the idea...

Sunday I cooked... chicken korma (brown chicken, bung in a jar of korma sauce, bish, bash, bosh), and yesterday I made mince & tatties (in the same pot).

Work's boring still... I've got news there though, but I can't tell you in case someone in Orkney reads this... it's not official yet, so I can't say anything...

And I guess that's about it... I'm cold (too skint to have the heating on for long... I'm already running the meter on the emergency credit 'til payday on Thursday), I'm tired (walked to work this morning, coz I had to go and see someone on the way, and walked down to the counsellor tonight), and I'm fed up... so generally, I'm not real good company at the moment...

"Mirror, mirror on the wall... who is the grumpiest bugger of all?"