Piles of papers

I hope fellow Londoners will join me in this new “gripe” I have with the great City that come in the form of free newspaper distributors. Whatever happened to the good old days (which makes me feel old as I shouldn’t really be reminiscing about the good old days at my age) when if you wanted to read a newspaper you would go to the shop and pay a fairly small sum for the privilege.

Now, my journey from the Tube to work, which takes about 7 minutes, is filled with me politely saying “no thank you” to at least 4 free newspaper distributors per journey. Don’t get me wrong - I have, on occasion, taken them up on their offer and enjoyed the delights of London Lite and The London Paper (no I don’t know the difference either) but with so many people already in London, do we really need the extra bodies to clog up the streets and get in the way of rushing commuters on their way home?

Not to mention the strains on the environment – the amount of paper used, the number of them I see lying on peoples desks at work in near perfect condition obviously not being read and even worse the ones littering the streets – flying along the road with the wind or being drenched by the rain and sitting soggy next to a drain. Are there really that many people who begrudge paying 50p for the Evening Standard, or reading the Metro which is a great paper having built its base in stations where it is controlled by the confines of being underground. Do we need this many free papers? Are we really that stingy?

Dreaming a dream?

Dreams are a strange thing. It fascinates me how they work and how your subconscious can overcome all rational thought, desires and morals to put you in impossible situations and frankly, sometimes embarrassing predicaments! I have, on more than one occasion, dreamt about kissing a co-worker, once even my boss and whilst he is a great boss and person he's not who I would choose for the man of my dreams. So what makes our brains, or our subconscious (I say "our" in the hope I am not the only one dreaming inappropriate scenarios!) do these things in dreams, that in real life just wouldn't happen. Some people can say its your subconscious desires but I don't believe that, I am in a happy and committed relationship and have no desire to kiss my boss - if it were to be anyone, I would be dreaming about David Beckham!

Dreams can be frustrating events, I have often woken up feeling, that's a nice dream and no matter how hard I try I can't get back into them. Or dreaming and knowing its a dream and trying hard to make things happen, like when you need to scream and nothing comes out, or when you want to run and you can't move. Then there are the ones I have during the mornings I lie in, drifting in and out of sleep, they are almost like short stories. I find these dreams much more malleable. I had about 3 or 4 this morning, one where I was in my grandparents house and my grandma was there (she died last month) and I wanted to hug her and I managed to make myself do that in the dream. I always realise these dreams are dreams whilst they are happening. I think the morning dreams are much more susceptible to being changed by my conscious mind. Perhaps they are in fact a "snooze-dream" a cross between a full day dream and a night dream.

First domestic blog

I thought as I have marketed myself as a city socialite and a domestic goddess I should at least give you some proof of my claims. After getting a delightful South West Train home, which went by quite quickly as I am reading a book called Shattered by Mavis Marsh which is quite engrossing and a remarkable story, I came home and watched an episode of Hollyoaks. Quite what Becca is thinking agreeing to marry Justin after one failed marriage already as she is unsure about it - well I could rant about the stupidity of some things forever, but as I must remind myself its only fictional. The character that plays Becca was in a London pub a few months ago and is just as beautiful in real life. Damn her!

Anyway, as I was saying - proof of my domestic goddess-ness, I came home and did all the washing up and now sitting in the oven waiting to be demolished is a home made shepherds pie. I might even do some ironing later. Oh the thrills of a happy home!

Cultural expectations

Grrr - first grumble from me. Why do people feel the need to force their beliefs and opinions on you without listening to you. I was just discussing with a colleague about caring for the elderly and in particular elderly people in your family - parents, grandparents etc. My colleague is Asian and she said people in "this country" (being the UK) don't care about their family or have the same family bonds because many English people opt to put their elderly relatives in an Old Peoples Home. What a load of crap, I mean, I love my family more than anything but love doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your life for someone else's. You may think that is a selfish viewpoint but what moral code tells us we must give up our lives completely for a family relative who needs 24 hour care. Take for example, my Granddad who is suffering from Alzheimer's. Should I, or one of my aunts or uncles give up their jobs, their friends and their family to take on the care for my Granddad, who needs 24 hour support. Or, should we choose to put him in a home where there are nurses, counsellors, and other people his age where he can get the help and support he needs for such an illness. Where my family and I can go to visit him without resentment and enjoy the time we spend with him.

I am not looking for validation of my thoughts, as I know everyone has different views on such matters but it really irks me when people think that their way of dealing with things is the right and only way to do it.

Three Beautiful Things

I was reading the blog of Three Beautiful Things and what a lovely idea that is, I mean how many times do we focus on the bad things in life and oversee the little things that happen to us which brighten our day. So as a tribute to a fellow "half-full" blogger my three things for today are:

1. Not feeling ridiculously tired at 6.15 this morning like I usually do on a Monday
   
2. Getting a seat on the drain (Waterloo and City line) this morning right next to the glass bit and being able to rest my head for 5 minutes.
   
3. Being sent an e-mail at 8.30am by one of the guys in the office telling me to come and help myself to Ferrero Rochers.

So, not bad for a Monday morning- and it certainly made me think about appreciating the little things.

I would like to implore fellow bloggers to try and remember the good things in life when all is lost - a few nice things I will always remember include:

• The stranger who ran after me when I left £30 hanging out of the cashpoint because I was in a rush
  
• The man who chased me and my partner down the street one night to tell us we had to buy a parking ticket as the car parks rules had recently changed thus saving us a £40 fine on our return
  
• The man at the fruit and veg stand in the market who told me to pay him next week when I had run out of cash for my purchase (and I did!)

So if we think about it, I'm sure we can reinvent the famous Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Introduction

Welcome to my blog - this is my first ever post and I'm quite excited. I like the anonymity this is going to give me to brag, boast, grumble and gossip about life. Right now I am at work so I really shouldn't be doing this, but it is Monday morning and I am shattered so if I wasn't doing this I would probably have my head down on my desk.

Anyhoo - the reason I chose to start this blog is that I consider myself a nice person, so that when people do things that annoy me I find it very difficult to tell them so. So...... what better way to release myself of this pent up annoyance (rather than anger) than to moan and grumble freely on my very own blog. And I won't even know if no one bothers to read it! So this will be my personal Room 101. But don't feel depressed, I will also jump and shout about the good things in my life too - like the fact that last week I got a payrise and I am so chuffed as I have a couple of horrid credit card bills which I can now (almost!) pay off - and I have a wedding to pay for so it was very nice news.

So, stand by in anticipation and await my ramblings.