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Bath

Run that by me again…. WHY did I need a bath.

Rolling around in the MUD….

Barmy Brexit or down to a few inclement weather days in Spain. For whatever the reason, many of Britain’s supermarkets have quite a few gaps on the shelves these days and what products are there has become way more expensive.

This week I was plodding around our local store, a store that was looking even more barren than usual. Hardly any gluten free cereal, no cough medicine, hardly any fresh veg, no eggs, no ……

That kinda thing.

But I was ok, humming away to the store’s choice of music this fine day. Beatles, Rolling Stones, Al Stewart. If stuff isn’t there then chill out. We have soup. We have chocolate. We have crisps. We have sausages.

Then it all changed.

Mood darkened.

Then it was definitely NOT OK.

Remember The Simpsons Movie and what finally set off the urban powder keg.

We’re OUT OF COFFEE…..

I was stood in the coffee isle. It was an empty as my so called football teams trophy cabinet. The only pods they had for my coffee machine was Chocolate and Ovaltine…. Come on the secret is in the product name, it’s a COFFEE MACHINE. George Clooney certainly won’t be happy as well as his brand’s section was was completely empty. I heard one equally desperate shopper ask a manager who reassuringly informed him that there had been no coffee stock in the delivery lorries in over a week now. So even going caffeine old school isn’t looking good as well. A few jars of cheap decaf on the shelves and that was it. Definitely NO ESPRESSO. My Blood Caffeine levels are already dropping dangerously low.

We’re OUT OF COFFEE……

Suddenly the store blasting out the Beach Boys is seriously the last thing I want to hear. The only ‘good vibrations’ here is me rapidly entering cold coffee turkey.

I know coffee isn’t good for me. I felt much healthier when I gave the stuff up for 6 months. But currently it’s helping me keep going on not enough sleep. Let’s get Hawklad through his exams and the stress levels should subside. Maybe then I can come off the caffeine but NOT right now. So until Amazon delivers emergency supplies then it’s plan b. Shed loads of chocolate. Thankfully the store had plenty of Cadbury products to load up the trolley with.

Needs must….

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Swiss Sunday

Just looking at a postcard I received this week.

One lucky soul had made it to Switzerland. Apparently it was a bit of a nightmare journey – that was just trying to get out of England. One of the many benefits of Brexit is clearly enhanced chaos and delays at the Border. A border which we had so struggled to live without for decades. I must admit a thought crossed my increasingly tired mind. We are most definitely on the wrong side of that new border. Maybe one day Europe beckons.

Looking at the postcard it reminds me that adventures are still there to be had. Switzerland is ready and waiting. Yes it will be a logistical and parenting nightmare getting Hawklad there, even more so these days. But it has been far too long since our last trip. Far too long. Wow we could do with those alpine days right now. Let’s hope it’s not much longer now.

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Brave New World

Empty shelves in the shops, no petrol anywhere across the area, limited availability of blood test container tubes for Doctors resulting in the rationing of patient tests……..Another day in the Brave New World after Brexit.

As Hawklad rather adroitly put it this afternoon “this is what happens when a country needs leaders but votes in CLOWNS. Really nasty clowns.” As one commentator put it – the kinda clown who would happily pull out the plug on your life support machine so they could charge up their mobile phone.

It’s all going very dystopian here in Britain. To make the Huxley story link then we need a bit of genetically engineered trickery. What follows is the lamest link ever. Genetical engineering in the form of baking. My baking. Yes that is my latest bread loaf. Cheese topped Gluten Free, Dairy Free Honey and Sunflower Seed Bread. Huxley would be proud of me – it tastes rather fine. BUT…

“Dad that’s all very well but weren’t you supposed to be baking a sponge cake .”

Oh yes, I wondered why I was making bread when I already had a full homemade loaf still to eat. I must have got confused.

“That’s what happens when a kitchen needs a parent who knows what he’s doing and ends up with a MUPPET. Admittedly a muppet who can now bake bread.”

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 40 Comments

moaning

The weekly missing shopping item update. This week we have gone up to 24 missing or items substituted with something completely different. Some good ones. The mildest korma replaced with the hottest and nastiest one available….. Or cream crackers substituted with Jammy Dodgers….. The delivery guy was really apologetic (not his fault). He was saying the supermarket has a growing number of empty sections.

I had to send an item to France for work. Before Brexit I would have just plonked it over the post office counter and paid the small postal cost. Now it’s shed loads of paper work and the cost has gone up ten fold. It’s then more paperwork for the poor person receiving it,

So in a word. Brexit is going really well for some of us…..The missing food items, the bureaucratic nightmares and increased costs are so worth it. Think of what we have gained. Hawklad and I have lost our right to travel freely in 27 European countries. So worth it.

But apparently I’m not supposed to talk about this. I’m far too negative. I’m just a remoaner. Even the head of my countries church tells me to ‘stop whinging’ and respect democracy. When did losing a vote mean that you have to stop believing in a principle. Standing up when things are clearly going so badly wrong. I’m not doing anything to disrupt Brexit. I want it to work. I want it to work for my son. For the next generation. But does that mean I have to just ignore what is going on. Just accept it. Fall into line. If that was the case then after an election any party not winning should just fold. Give up.

Tell you what. I will stop whinging when Brexit starts working. That’s a promise. Until then I will keep MOANING and keep fighting for what I believe in.

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Ketchup

Joey Chestnut has apparently declared himself the greatest athlete of all time after breaking the world record for eating as many hotdogs as you can in 10 minutes. He ate 76 in 10 minutes. 76…. Jody was clearly not eating hotdogs from outside my so called football teams stadium. It takes at least 10 hours to get served and I dread to think of the chemicals and additives entering into the body after just 1 of those monstrosities never mind 76 of them. Only shed loads of tomato ketchup is saving that.

Yesterday food delivery came with 18 missing items and various random substitutions. Brexit is going really well………

So as I we picked through the damage. No favourite sausages – ok Hawklad can live with that for a week or so. No favourite salad and fruit – again he will make do. It went on and on in a similar vein until. NO Tomato Ketchup. To many amongst us that will just not fly. To Hawklad that’s worse than a zombie apocalypse. So today we go out ketchup hunting.

Needs must…..

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Conned

Yorkshire. Not Death Valley. Yes Yorkshire.

There was a time when Yorkshire wasn’t so dry 😂😂😂😂😂

There was also a time when shopping was easy. No social distancing, no masks and no empty shelves…..

A number of people at work have been talking about the supermarkets here having far too many empty shelves. Many out of stock items.

For a few weeks after the pandemic first started our shops did suffer from panic buying. Shelves stripped in the madness. Remember the toilet paper mayhem. But then it calmed down. Until now.

This time can I mention that dreaded word here – Brexit. Mountains of crazy new regulations, logistic lines intentionally broken and shortages of key workers now not welcome here by our Government. A number of supermarkets are struggling to get supplies in. Suppliers are struggling so they are having to focus just on a few item lines and drop others. Hence empty shop shelves.

So how did my shopping order go today.

No fresh veg apart from potatoes – out of stock

Apart from apples no fresh fruit – out of stock

No ready meals – out of stock

No soft drinks – out of stock

No fresh fish – out of stock

No fresh pasta – out of stock

No gluten free items – out of stock

Even the tinned and frozen items were frequently substituted with ‘similar’ items. Don’t get me wrong we won’t struggle to eat. Just need to go more processed. I will have to have a very unvaried gluten free diet for the week. Hawklad will live off sausages – no hardship there 😂.

But really is this what the 26.5% of the population who voted to leave the EU really hoped for. If it wasn’t then I’m afraid you we’re conned.

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England

It’s no secret that I have fallen out of love with my country. I don’t like what it is becoming. I don’t like the way it’s run. I don’t like the corruption. The inequalities. The new values we are supposed to sign up to. I hate the xenophobic outlook. I constantly seem to be at odds with a sizeable portion of my fellow citizens.

But is it just me .

“Dad if we win the lottery can we leave England.”

Why?

“England is going down hill. It has been for years. It’s becoming ugly. I’m European but I’m not now allowed to be. I didn’t get a say in that. The country has no future the way it’s going. It’s stuck in the past. Our leaders are racist, law breaking clowns as corrupt as any in our history. I’m ashamed to call myself English now.

I can’t disagree with you sadly. Where might you want to move to.

Switzerland. If they won’t have us then Germany or France or Italy or . I would go to Canada, or America or New Zealand. Anywhere apart from here.

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 36 Comments

Hindsight

According to the Government this morning it was impossible to forecast the emergence of the Indian COVID Variant in the UK. People should stop being ‘Captain Hindsight’. Which is odd as scientists, doctors, opposition parties, other Governments, some in the media and even the Governments own advisers were warning about it when the the variant first emerged in India in February. All calling for stricter border checks, more robust monitoring, even border restrictions until the vaccination programme was completed. But no. Nothing happened again. The horse bolts and then a big thing is made of Boris Johnson then partly closing the stable doors when it’s too late. The UK now has the second highest concentration of the Indian variant in the world now, second only to India.

The UK COVID border process has since the pandemic started been somewhere between nonexistent and a joke. I don’t understand why for this Government. A Government so quick to permanently remove free travel rights for its own citizens across Europe. A Government which is so quick to close borders to immigrants and refugees. So quick to deport any group deemed as ‘unwanted here’. Yet when it comes to a pandemic it is so set against border control. But what do you expect from a Government that has now decided to switch COVID public advice away from trained medics to outsourced call staff with no medical background.

But what does hindsight count for anyway. Maybe this scary fact. Currently at the height of worlds worst outbreak, in India the average COVID deaths per 100,000 stands at just below 20. In the UK , the average COVID related deaths per 100,000 stands at 191…..

What was the quote our Prime Minister is alleged to have said – let the bodies pile high…… Well he got his wish. All without hindsight.

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 53 Comments

Britain

Bad weather on the way. Around here it’s called moky yukken it dooon. I probably could explain to you how that is pronounced but that would give away the Yorkshire Entry Test we have at our borders 😂😂😂😂 Helps keep out the numpties…..

A quick scan at todays news headlines tells me everything I need to know about the country I live in these days. Just why Yorkshire really needs these anti numpty controls. In a nutshell the following news words sum up modern Britain.

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Boris sends Gunboats to Jersey to protect our fish from the French….. (that’s an unaltered headline, I kid you not)

Boris Johnson helps billionaire Friend James Dyson to pay millions less in tax….. in an unrelated story Boris Johnson’s brother has been made a Director of James Dyson’s company.

Government announce that Covid strategy is on track and the threat from mutations has been overstated, testing data confirm that that ….In unrelated news the Government confirmed that they have not yet started surge testing for the really worrying Indian mutation as it is not seen as a current threat. Even without this enhanced testing, over 800 cases have been confirmed over the last couple of weeks.

Traditionally Labour voting Hartlepool is likely to vote for Boris in today’s By-election. Apparently the town sees itself aligned with Boris Johnson’s vision for Britain – in unrelated news, after Brexit and 10 years of Conservative governing Hartlepool has the highest unemployment rate in the country. It’s fishing industry has collapsed since Brexit. It needs 9 food banks (it needed zero 10 years ago) and just under 30% of children in the town are officially listed as living in poverty.

A recent poll finds that the majority of voters are blaming immigration for the countries woes – there are no words…..

The Government has confirmed a new royal yacht will be built at a cost of £200M. The Government has also confirmed that it is looking to spend £35 Billion on new missiles for its nuclear submarine fleet. – in unrelated news the Government has been unable to find resources to fund a proper pay increase for its NHS heroes or increase child poverty payments to families most in need.

The Government has confirmed that the budget for overseas clean water and sanitation projects will be slashed by 80% as part of non-essential service cutbacks – there are no words…….

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Today I am officially done with my country……

Posted on by bereavedandbeingasingleparent · 57 Comments

Leaning

One of the first things you notice living in the hills is that you don’t get many poles that are straight up. There is always a bit of a lean to them. Nowt wrong with that. It feels like I’ve had a bit of a lean for years.

There is a really apt song line that Roger Waters wrote a few years back.

You lean to the left but you vote to the right.

This morning I read a work email exchange. One guy was saying that he had voted for Brexit because it seemed cool but hadn’t voted for higher food prices and more expensive import taxes. He certainly hadn’t voted for the nightmare it had become to own his time share in Spain.

Ok…..

Maybe its just me. 😳

But I guess we all do a bit of that lean to the left but vote to the right thing.

I’m not immune to that. As a kid I fell in love with football. What an exciting game it could be if I picked a great team. I then picked Newcastle United to support. If I liked football so much why did I pick that bunch of numpties.

Then there was a time when I was a fully paid up member of CND. Proud owner of the ban the bomb T-shirt. I picked what look like a really interesting University option. All went well until I found out where my option was based. The National Atomic Weapons Research Facility…… I’m not making that up. How on earth did I get through the vetting.

But it goes much wider. I wanted desperately to be a parent but not sure I would have initially voted to be a single parent. Definitely not this way.

So I guess there are times when things are out of our control. Life happens. But there are times when it is down to our decisions, our actions. If that happens you just have to own the consequences….