18th January 2010, Marjal, dull grey and lifeless.

18th January 2010, Marjal, dull grey and lifeless.


And it is, couldn't even rouse ourselves into a cycle ride. Still it is relatively warm.
Oh and Sunderland lost 2 - 7 to Chelsea, bloody hell!
Had some good news, the rejected insurance claim has been “reconsidered” and we may get something back. In total is cost us over £1,000 and depending on how they accept un-receipted items we may be looking at about £600. (do not cover lost paper, passports etc.)



Went through to Rojales yesterday and due to the winter rains the “mosaic” tiles SWMBO spotted last time have miraculously been washed away. Now wait a minute, I've just typed a few words that I am not always sure I can spell correctly and the “spell correcter” (or corrector?) usually sorts or points out the right spelling. For instance “miraculously” is not a word I use often, as is “often”, but is it spelled (spelt) right or is the software not doing it's job.

Ode to a Spell Checker

Eye halve a spelling chequer,
It came with my pea sea,
It plainly marques four review
miss takes eye can knot sea,
I strike a quay and type a word
And weight for it to say
Weather eye am wrong or rite
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is made;
It nose bee four two long
And eye can put the error rite;
Its rare le ever wrong.
Eye has run this poem threw and I’m shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect all the weigh
My chequer told me so.


An now a slight rant (again).

London Times Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense


'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Elastoplast to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.'

MORE IMPORTANTLY . . . .

Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 600 employees and has the following statistics?

29 have been accused of spouse abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad cheques
117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
3 have done time for assault
71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
4 have been arrested on drug-related charges
8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
84 have been arrested for drink driving in the last year

and 100's have claimed “not to have done anything unlawful” with regards to expenses.

Which organisation is this? . . .

It's the 635 members of the House of Commons, the same group that cranks out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line.

Back to here, have been having trouble with the electrics on the MS. I had installed an extra two (making four) which gives approximately 450 ampere hours, i.e. could run a 1KW heater for about 110 hours, but then it would be completely flat and could never be used again. So more realistically 50 hours or so. We leave a 30 watt light on (without mains connected) for a couple of hours and the battery meter reads almost zero. So I spent hours taking the batteries out and checking them only to find that due to the myriad of wires only one was actually connected to the MS, call myself an electrician!

We have more or less decided that we will move on at the end of the month, I mean that's what it's all about really, move on and do some touring, see different places, meet new people. Some of the site's inhabitants, single and couples, have been coming here and spending, 6-10 months here for the past 10 years, why?

So it's off to Roquetas Del Mar, about 200 miles south west, near Almeria. It will also cost us about £200/month less than here so there's a bonus.

19th Tuesday and washing day again, except the bloody sun has gone walkies, damn.

Spent hours trying to find out why the mains was not working. Got up this morning switched on our one and only mains light, nada. Checked fuses, mains cable, mains reset, tried plugging into next door's outlet, zip. “Have you tried changing the bulb?”. “Don't be bloody stupid, it's not the bulb, we have not got any mains on!” “How come my laptop is re-charging then?”

“shit, shit, shit”

“No that's a different kind of electricity you've got there Pet, uses an invertathingyjig, you would not understand, why not go and do the washing up while I fix this lot”.

Soon as she was out of the way I quickly changed the bulb and “fixed” the problem. When she got back she was very pleased and said, “It's great to have a man about the place pity I'm stuck with a banker”, at least that's what I thought she said.