The weakest link

Sam received a letter this morning. A chain letter ferchrissake! He's three and half and he's getting chain letters! Send a packet of stickers to the two people named below and in around two weeks you will receive thirty packets of stickers. Don't we get enough intrusive shite though our doors already? Shouldn't people be educating their kids to resist this kind of mindless drivel rather than softening them up for the main event where they get bombarded by the advertising industry's finest for the rest of their lives.

Young people and their loud music

I overheard a couple of my younger colleagues this morning.

Him: So, when’s your birthday?
Her: 7th November.
Him: Will you be twenty or twenty one?
Her: Twenty.
Him: Same as me then.

Bastards, youth is wasted on the young.

A tough day

I'm very proud of my little boy. He had to have a small operation yesterday: minor but still requiring a general anaesthetic. With the exception of being anaesthetised, he took the whole thing pretty much in his stride. Daddy on the other hand blubbed like a girl when he had to restrain his little boy to be gassed and then hand him over, helpless and vulnerable, to a bunch of complete strangers. It was a very long 40 minutes. All went well and a few hours later we were home with Sam demanding fish fingers for his tea.
Our health service comes in for a lot of criticism, the doctors and nursing staff in the paediatric day surgery unit at the Royal Surrey Hospital were fantastic. The facilities are excellent and the whole experience was as positive as is possible under the circumstances.
Cathy will be spending today trying to keep Sam from his normal boisterous activity.

Give us a sign

On the road outside Burnsall, "Hoss muck, pick your own, £1.00 a bag".

The Bitchin' Grassington Old Lady Posse … Innit!

Overheard in a tea room in Grassington, three old ladies chatting. One of them piped up, "When I had my bitches…". Yo, Bitch!

Always look on the bright side of life

Whilst buying a map and chatting with the man in the Mountain Shop in Grassington about a nice route for a walk, he offered the suggestion that, "The Valley of Desolation is lovely at this time of year."

Back to the grindstone

So, that's the end of a very nice weekend in the Yorkshire Dales followed by a few wet days camping in North Devon. More "what I did on my holidays" later. In the meantime, catching up on the news, it's nice to see that the Great British White Water Rafting team have won a gold medal in the flash flood event. The two former surfers from Boscastle completed the course in record time in their 1967 VW Camper van.