Saturday, March 31, 2007

Well, guess wot?

I have just been nominated!

No, no, not for twat of the year.

Anybody who has read my blogs will know what I'm talking about.


I have been nominated to become a labour councillor for Hagley.

It is a dominate conservative area.

So I wasn't surprised when we struggled to get the ten nominees I needed to sign that piece of paper!

So really, I am a paper candidate.

However, never be put off, I will spend April going around canvassing and try to get some more votes.

If you don't go around introducing yourself no-one will vote for you, they will never vote for someone they have never seen or spoken to.

My husband geoff is a councillor and I must admit I love his work.

So, although I don't stand much of a chance, I said I would stand as an councillor.

It will be fun.

Actually, to be honest, I am quite enjoying all the attention I'm getting!!!

Will let you know the result.

The election is on May 3rd.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Have any of you ever tried the monkey business game on sky t.v.?
If you go to documentaries, page 524.Animal planet programme. They do occasionally have the meerkats on as well.

Please try it.

It is fantastic.
We cannot leave it alone!

It's great fun.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Of all the the seasons we have, I must admit that spring is my favourite.

I have just been outside and the smell of that fresh air is something I look forward to every year.

The flowers are just begining to show their heads and the wintry leaves have gone.
The nights are getting lighter and the whole atmosphere is fresher.

I love the spring.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

GOD OR SCIENCE VOL 2.

I have always watched Horizon as I find it very informative and interesting. On this occasion I was not disappointed. I could not understand why anyone could question the ethics of Darwin.
However some people do.
In Dover U.S.A. Atlanta Cobb County School board, the second largest board in Georgia, was taken to court, by the parents, for that reason.

A suburban American school found itself in court after it tried to placate Christian fundamentalist parents by placing a sticker on its science textbooks saying evolution was "a theory, not a fact."

Some parents wanted creationism-the theory that god created humans according to the bible version-to be taught alongside evolution.

"God created earth and man in his image." One parent says. "Leave this garbage out of the textbooks. I don't want anybody taking care of me in a nursing home some day to think I came from a monkey."

Cobb county achieved what it believed to be a compromise by addibg stickers to the books which read:
"this textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically consisdered."

But secular parents believed the board had been browbeaten.

In 1987, the supreme court ruled that creationism was a religious belief that could NOT be taught in public schools along with EVOLUTION.

However, since then, the parents won the case and both religion and evolution is being taught at the school.

Well after watching that fascinating programme it really made me sit back and think, religion, evolution or both.

Some may think you can not teach both as they do contradict each other.

For example, in the Bible it states that god made this earth in 6 days and rested on the 7th.

Or was it the "big bang" that started this earth and all the other planets?

I do think that both should be taught in schools, but, Personally, I tend to lean towards evolution, although I mean no offence to anyone that is religious.
I just cannot except that a "god" made us.
GOD OR SCIENCE?

This is a very interesting question.
Do you believe in religion or science?
Did God create this earth or was evolution?

Let us start with the easiest questions....

Did God create this earth in 6 days and then rested on the seventh?
Was Adam and Eve the first persons on this earth.
Was there three wise men and what was the star they followed?

It is a well known fact that the sun is five billion years old and the earth is four and a half billion years old. It took half a billion years for the sun to warm us up and start "life" on this planet.
As for whether A dam and Eve were the first people on this earth, I can only repeat what we all know, that dinosaurs roamed this earth for millions of years and then they became extinct, were they mentioned in the bible?
The first "humans" were from the Neanderthal species. Which related to the "ape" species.

The three wise men? There may have been three wise men following the star, but what star was it? What star shone so brightly in the sky for them to follow?

The question could go on forever, and I find it so interesting. I would be delighted to hear your opoint of view.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Last Thursday I did a Dickiebo.

Feeling very angry at something that had happened at work (with another checkout girl I mean), I sat here and wrote the most awful blog.
I went on and on about this girl at work who is not exactly the most hardest working person you could meet. In fact she is one of the most laziest people I have known.
I blogged and blogged for hours. Letting off some of my anger and frustration.
My language was disgusting...every four letter word you have heard and probably some you haven't.

When I had finished I went to publish it, and guess what, it wouldn't publish!

I couldn't believe it. I thought of Dickiebo straight away, he also had a problem with publishing a blog he did. His computer crashed.

But it made me wonder, was it someone, somewhere not allowing me to publish that blog?
I am in fact glad that none of you ever saw it, it was really awfull.

But as you know this is our only outlet, and sometimes you just need to say what you are feeling.

Sometimes happy, sometimes sad,
Sometimes dappy, sometimes mad.

Perhaps when I've calmed down a bit and can write in a more reasonable mood, I'll tell you about it.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

New World pay at Asda.

I have spoken to my union official concerning the new pay measures Asda will be bringing in by August, and he was not as disgruntled about the situation as I was.
When I explained about the loss of overtime pay I would lose, he said that I should work out what it will mean over the year.

So I did.

My new wage per hour will be £5.88 x 20hrs per week x 4= £470.00 x 12=£5644.8

My wage now per hour is £5.35 x 20hrs per week x 4=£428.00 x 12=£5136.oo

So, in fact, I will be gaining £508.00 per year, and I would not need to do any overtime.

It's funny how we all said we would lose out, but now we have sat down and worked it out over the year we are all saying we will actually gain. This is because the new rate of pay is 53p an hour more.

For once Asda has done something good for their employees.

Monday, March 12, 2007

well, yet another blonde moment....only this time not just me.

I had an appointment at the Opticians at 1.30 p.m. today, so geoff decided he would come along to.

We arranged that geoff would meet me at Asda at 1.15p.m. after he had done some shopping.
Sure enough, he was waiting and we got into his car to drive to the town centre to go to the opticians.

After choosing new glasses which I desperately needed, we left the opticians and got into geoff's car and drove home.

Arriving home I suddenly had a thought (Now, that is dangerous!!)
I turned to geoff and said:

"GEOFF, MY CAR!"

Geoff looked at me and said:

"What about it?"

I looked at him and said in a rather disbelieving voice:

I've done it again, MY CAR IS IN THE TOWN!"

With that, we both burst out laughing and turned the car round to drive straight back into town to retrieve my car!!!

How can we both forget my car?

Yet again it was left.

I can't get over it. Twice I have left my car.

Can't wait to tell the girls at work.

I don't think they would believe me.......do you?

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

I have never wanted to use this blog site as a "Have a go at Asda" page, but I must admit that something has happened at work which has made my blood boil!

I have been at Asda now for 16 years, not a lot has happened in those years but now it has.

They brought in a new pay structure about 5 years ago. This is called the "New World." pay structure.

This meant that any new employees would be put on this New World pay structor.
The new employees would have to work Sundays and every bank holiday.

For working Sundays you are paid time and a half.
Bank Holidays you are paid time and a half.

However they are paid 53p an hour more than the "Old World" employees.

I am one of the "old world" employees....we are paid the minimum wage of £5.35 per hour and we get paid double time for sundays.


Employees like myself who have been there a number of years, could choose whether to go on to the new world pay. If you worked Mondays it wasn't really worth it because you would also have to Bank Holidays. If you did Sundays as overtime you would be paid time and a half.


I did not change over because I do work Mondays and although I have done Bank Holidays, as overtime, I admit that stopped some years ago, I prefer to spend some time with my family on these days.
I do work sundays mornings as overtime.

I have now received a letter from Asda informing me that I, along with everybody else who is on old world, will from 5-8-07 be transferred to the New World pay structure.

We will be paid the standard rate of £5.88

There will be no overtime rate for sundays, just the flat rate of £5.88

We will now have to work Bank Holidays.

I worked it out that although my hourly rate is slightly higher (by 53p) the biggest loss will be the overtime at the standard rate.

It will mean a loss of £34.00 per month.

How can Asda do this to their employees?

I do not want to except this offer.

I will be talking to my union official about this matter.

I will let you know what happens.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

We decided that our bedroom needed decorating after looking at the same wallpaper year after year. We could not decide which wallpaper to choose so after a while we decided to paint it.
Actually, geoff did all the painting as I am useless with that sort of thing.

We now have got a lovely bedroom with pink walls (has to be doesn't it?) and a blue ceiling.

Lovely.

Looks so warm.

Now,we had a built-in wardrobe but the doors where tatty and hanging off their hinges! So we decided to buy a new one,so off we go to all the shops and eventually we saw one we both liked and then waited for it to be delivered. Sure enough it came. God it was huge........and it was in boxes.

Have you ever tried to assembly a wardrobe?

Well, we looked at the instructions and ?!?!?

Have they sent the right ones I wondered. What is all these things in a packet? What are those nuts and bolts for?

I quickly explained to Geoff that I had to go to work and left him to it. I came home expecting the wardrobe to be built and walked into the bedroom to find Geoff still looking at the instructions, so I knew it wasn't going to be a quick job.

Three weeks later,(yes, three weeks!) with some help from me, the wardrobe was built and as you can expect the bedroom was in a bit of a mess.

So armed with the old pledge and hoover up I went to clean it. Then I saw it.......the old record player we had hidden in a corner. Geoff had got it out and dusted it down, and put it in a corner of the bedroom.

Wow.

I got out all the old L.P.s, and picked my old ,old favourites.

T.Rex. Electric Warrior.

What a band.

I think a lot of people would agree that It was the lead singer,Marc Bolan, who made that group.
I loved him.

Unfortunately, on september 16th 1977 he died. He was involved in a car accident which skidded and his car hit a tree. He was killed instantly. He was 30 years old.

Music has never been the same since.


It took me back 20 years or more. I remember when I first heard them, 1974 I believe and I was at school.I went out and bought the first T.Rex album, and played it till my parents asked me to give them a rest from it. I could not understand why anyone could not like their music.

When it came to christmas I, of course, asked for another T.Rex album. Which my parents brought for me on the condition I would only play it when they were out.

I'm glad I kept those albums and I would never throw them away.

What albums do you have which you are glad you never threw away?