15 April 2011 (Friday) - Good News

In a novel break with tradition I didn’t wake until 5.30am this morning. For me, that’s quite good going. As I left for work this morning I had flashbacks of yesterday. The people over the road were again loading up their van, and I got to Asda to find that the self-service checkout that broke on me yesterday was still kaput.

After an average day at work I popped into the fishing tackle shop. Yesterday after work I went to Invicta Angling, where I stood for quarter of an hour waiting for the chap behind the counter to stop gossiping with his cronies before I gave up and walked out. Today I went to Ashford Angling where they couldn’t have been more helpful. A shame that they didn’t have any quill floats, but I've been shopping elsewhere and I now have all the ingredients to make some of my own....

And so home, where ‘er indoors ^TM was busy on the PS2. Over this last week she’s become addicted to a game: “Banania: The lying old witch in the wardrobe”. When I first saw that game I realised how similar it appeared to NeverWinter Nights, and I warned her how addictive those games are, but it’s now too late.

Whilst she was saving Banania from marauding ogres I checked my post. My fishing license has arrived. Slower and more expensive than last time, but it’s arrived, nonetheless. Something else which has arrived is the reminder that my car’s road tax is due. Bearing in mind the comments I received about a blog entry from a few years ago when I wasted time in the post office, I got my tax disc on-line. It took me less than a minute, and was painless apart from the cost.

Interestingly the DVLA, like “The Great Fishing Licence Swindle”, charge slightly over the odds as opposed to what the Post Office charge when you buy the thing directly. But the DVLA don’t charge if you use a debit card (as opposed to a credit card). Back in the days when I got interest on my current account I would not use a debit card. But now I don’t get interest, my debit and credit cards are to all intents and purposes identical, so I was charged nothing.

My water bill has arrived too – or to be precise the other half of my water bill. I pay one bunch to deliver water to the house, and another bunch to remove the water when I’m done with it. Getting shot of the water with which I am finished will cost me two hundred quid for the next year.

And I’ll end today with some good news.

Regular readers may recall a blog entry in January 2009 when I ranted about the shambolic travesty that we jokingly call British justice. Regular readers may also recall descriptions of my ten separate trips to HMP Slade. Whilst I was only too happy to go visiting, it’s no secret that a custodial sentence was given where a finger-wagging and the words “tsk, tsk” would have been more than adequate. And the unnecessary waste of the ten afternoons of my time was nothing compared to the waste of a year of the time of “someone else”.

And just when we thought all this nastiness was behind us, more charges were trumped up and the innocent once more terrorised. I never blogged about this up till now, but let’s just say that if someone were to phone the police and make the blackest allegations about you (whilst keeping a straight face) it’s amazing how your life can be ruined, whilst the police never think to question the motives of those making the accusations.

But today we’ve been told that all these trumped up charges have been dropped. I’m sure that those of my loyal readers who know what I’m talking about will be pleased. And to those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, just drop me a line and I’ll fill in all the details…