A new member to the family!
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries

Hip Hip Horay!!

Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: bliss
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
To my left, you will see an unblemished BLUE sky! Notice the abundance of sunshine which shows off the lush greenery. Yup, it is a GOOD day in England today, and I have a day off of work!!! YAHOOOO!

The reason is not the weather, but that my new piano is being delivered today!!!

Stephen is on Day 2 of his Mental Health Awareness training course in Basingstoke. Unfortunately he is also doing a night shift, so I will not see him until tomorrow afternoon, when I better have some cold cider waiting for him, or else everything he has learned about mental health will go out the window....speaking of which...last night after spilling my wine, we decided to go to the pub to finish of the evening. At the bell for last call, Stephen rushed up to get that last pint...you know the pint you really want but don't need? All was well until 2am when Stephen got up to take a leak, and opened the door to the communal hallway, wearing nothing but his birthday suit. When I groggily asked "What the hell are you doing?" Stephen told me to chill out, it's ok. HA Hha hahaha....he couldn't believe it this morning that he went into the hallway stark naked expecting to discover a place to piss..... Ah the beauty of it.

So yes, Stephen is at a Mental Health Awareness training course today.

Ominous stuff
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: Why, it's THE ARCHERS! on BBC radio 4
Topic: Blogs with photos
The weather is ominous today. The grey skies plus low ceiling thing is going on and it’s grey and dreary, neither hot or cold, damp or dry and the wind exists only as a nervous rustle. Two years ago I would have assumed the corresponding rain storm was imminent but now that I’m older & wiser, I know that it’s just going to stay this way all day and maybe the next. Maybe all week. Maybe. And maybe it’ll rain but maybe it won’t. Maybe if it does rain, maybe it’ll be a shower or maybe it’ll be a bit heavier. And maybe it’ll last a few minutes or maybe it’ll last all day. Maybe. Like I said before; ominous.

Elisabeth will be pissed off that I’ve bumped her most recent entry down a notch so please read it after this or, if you really want to support her, stop reading this entry and read hers. Now.

Back again? Good. Tomorrow’s going to be my last double (13 hour) shift for a while (It’ll most likely be about a week before I forget how tiring these shifts are & I go back to doing them all over again) and them I’m off to Basingstoke for a couple of days for some training on the core values necessary in my line of work. Like Don’t knock people to the ground and laugh as you urinate on them and Do not employ the ‘one for you/ one for me’ method of distributing medication. Anyway, all the overtime is going to feel quite good when it comes to my ay cheque and there’s a couple of hundred extra quid on it. The shitty thing is that, with only 1 weekend off every two weeks, I don’t have a life any more.

We’re planning out what we’re going to be doing this weekend for our anniversary – Swanky hotel in London? Check. Now we’ve just got to figure out if we’re going to blow the rest of our wad of cash on food, theatre or music. Mon Dieu, the trials & tribulations!

Oh, and here's a treat since we've been skimping on the picture front:

No Peace I Find
Mood:  lyrical
Now Playing: Ray Charles-"Georgia"
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
Good Morning Blog! I sit here listen to Ray Charles on a Sunday morning, watching the washing machine spin in front of me. I must remove the dishes from the top before the spin-cycle, or else mayhem!

Stephen has been working like a horse...over 60 hours this week, and I have virtually seen him for a few hours this weekend...and this week for that matter!

The good news for him is that tomorrow he finally gets a day off, and next weekend we are celebrating our anniversary in London, which we are NOT going to do on the cheap.

Speaking of NOT being cheap, yesterday I took the plunge and rented a digital piano: a Yamaha CPL130 which I thought was better than any of the Roland F-series. The piano will be delivered on THURSDAY!! Oh boy oh boy oh boy....drool, drool, drool...

Yup, here at the Allin Household, Woking Branch, we are adjusting not only to climate change, but also to the change of our working lifestyle...work, eat, clean, sleep, work, eat, clean, sleep...

In fact, I have been accused (rightly/wrongly?) of taking this schedule much to seriously and not having fun any more. In fact, I apparently have become very pessimistic. But the truth is, I am just mourning for Canada. And for as long as I am parted with that beloved simple country, I will fail to see the fun in living a town that was founded on cemeteries and loony asylums, that has been rated as a top CHAV town (see past blogs). And even though the exercise is good for me, cycling 14 miles a day to a job which requires more from a person than the laws of sanity allow, and come home to a tiny apartment that is so drafty that with all the windows closed, the curtains still billow, I will remain humourless. And to buy groceries (only as much as can fit inside our 2ft x 2ft fridge) it is a 10 min. walk each way to shop in a place where the other shoppers make it impossible for you move around the store (see Michael Caine in Ipcress Files...perfect example)...

Aaahh, aaahh, aaah, breathe, breathe,

What I really hope is that I'm not suffering from the "Female Syndrome" where as a girl gets older, she suddenly becomes a clucking hen that spends her time doing this and that, and not interested in just sitting down, drinking a beer, and reading a book.

Uncharacteristically though, I feel optimistic that things will get better. Patience is key.

Gotta grab those dishes....

I AM NOT THE CHIPPER!
Topic: Stephen Says
Aaaaaarg!
We're reading The Corrections again. I'm already spazzing out.
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRg!

Ya couldn't make this up even if you wanted too...
Topic: Stephen Says
We were walking back from the pub, Elisabeth carrying 12 rolls of China blue toilet paper (12 for the price of 9!) and me with the bottle of cheap Spanish cavas (sparkling wine) clinking against the cheap bottle of rose with my every second step. Elisabeth turns to me and asks "Are we trash?" ... and a bird poops on her head.

Who's your primary bread winner now, baby?
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Stephen Says
All work & no play makes for very, vert light blogging. I'm learning the joys of the 14 hour work day (It's not so bad, actually) and the joys of receriving a pay cheque (Debts will be paid.) that's bigger than your wifes. The only thing is that there's not alot to say. This morning's conversation:

Me: "We should up date the blog."
Elisabeth: "Yup."
Silence.

Oooh! OOOH! I know, there was a talent show in the Woking mall yesterday. E pointed out the the mall doubles as the city's rec centre. How horrible is that? Not a horrible as a fat, hairy 50 year old man in a leisure suit singing Elton John songs. Or kids doing dances to the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. Or 50 teens smooshed into our local bandstand (About the size of our kitchen) trying to play their own brand of feel-good, tinny, high school band music while avoiding the slide trombone threatening to concuss the 1st 2 rows. But I digress...

Friday was the hottest day in England in 50 years. I sweated through it and it seems that the coming apocalypse was averted but the fallout it that it's still pretty nice out and we're off to the nice pub this afternoon. The one with the big beer garden on the bank of the canal.

And that's about it. While I sweated it out on Friday in the busy office (sort of...), Elisabeth got off work early & went to a BBQ at her boss' house with the rest of her office and got to impress everyone with her abilities in gymnastics, alcohol consumption & Swedish wood chucking. All crowned by a wobbly bike ride home and, saving the best for last, Ghostbusters.

Who ya gonna call?

Bla, bla bla
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Stephen Says
Something strange must be going on when Elisabeth starts hinting that it is I who should be blogging a little bit more. Usually I'm the one nagging her to keep the blog alive.

Unfortunately, I don't have a heck of alot to say - it's been all work all the time, the last few days, which, I must add, I don't mind at all. It's been an exciting week so far with police & broken glass & dodgy psychiatrists and the tension is palpable as we approach this Big Inspection in early June. I slept the other night on the office floor & did a 14 hour shift yesterday.

I've got today off, thank God. I'm a litle bit nervous of burning out but I think that's just an over-reaction. More strangenesss over at the homestead - Elisabeth has slipped me a 20 pound note telling me to 'spoil myself' today.' It's official, I suppose - she wears the pants (trousers) in this household!

Ugh, damn I need more coffee before I get out. My mind is as blank as a fart.

Oh the Ironing!
Mood:  spacey
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
So yes, the Angelfire server has been down for a couple of days...which explains why all blogging has been on hold. Don't panic, we're still alive & puttering around Surrey. Stephen is doing the over-night shift tonight, so I am sitting in my underwear at 10:30 at night, debating whether or not to do the ironing, and what to cook for dinner tomorrow that will keep for Thursday. And frankly, as Queen Elizabeth says..."Let them eat CAKE!"

ASSAULT!
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: D.O.A. - Talk Minus Action Equals Zero
Topic: Stephen Says
Yeah, so *technically* I got assaulted today and it kinda sucked because I had to do alot of paperwork as a result. I also cooked up a batch of kick arse Thai chicken tonight, so who's complaining?

Oh yeah, I know who is - every motorist who passed through Woking today. There was some kind of spectacular accident today where (and I kid you not, this is 100% true) a cement mixer ran over & killed a man by the town center. When it stopped, the car behing the mixer crashed into it & the two people in the front were taken to the hospital. The police closed down Woking's main artery & life for drivers passing through sucked.

I pulled a 12 hour work day today and have earned my cider. Goodnight.