22 April 2010 (Thursday) - Paperwork

Despite a late night last night, I was still up with the lark, and watching episode three of “V” at 6am. So far I like the program, but bearing in mind it’s a remake, and the remake of “The Prisoner” started earlier in the week, I can’t help but wonder what’s next to come back to our screens.

Off to work, which was the same as ever, and then home again, having acquired some fine paint brushes to touch up the stripes I’d painted on the front of the house yesterday. It was a lovely evening to be pootling about in the front yard doing my painting.

And then I settled down with a cup of coffee to sort my post. I see I have a parcel waiting at the post office. I’m assuming that’s my latest eBay bargain. I’m told that the postage has been underpaid. Not quite the bargain it might have been, perhaps. I shall find out tomorrow.

There was a flier from the Conservative party – “Three Reasons to vote for Damien Green”. I’ve blogged before that I’m convinced that Damien Green is going to retain the parliamentary seat of Ashford. No other politicians have gone to the trouble of sending anything through the post – perhaps the other parties have already conceded defeat locally. I did notice yesterday that as I drove to Wadhurst I drove through four different parliamentary constituencies, and I soon lost count of the “Vote Conservative” banners and placards I saw. There must have been well over a hundred of them. I didn’t see a single one for the Labour party, and there was a solitary poster for the Liberal Democrats just outside of Biddenden.

I also saw my voting card has arrived. I shall have to phone the council tomorrow – I have applied for a postal vote.

I had a letter from the Renault dealer with an offer which seems too good to be true. For a limited period (next week) they are offering a deal where I trade in my car for a brand new one, and they guarantee my monthly payments will stay the same, or be cheaper. And they will chuck in a free flight for two of us to somewhere in Europe.

I’m not keen on the free flight. I think those things are a con. After all, it’s only the flight that is free – you’re still saddled with hotel bills and holiday expenses. But I’m intrigued by the idea of a new car. I’ve still got two years of payments outstanding on my car. Do they actually mean they will pay off the outstanding loan on my car? I wonder how they can do this deal. I might just phone and ask them.

I then had a stab at the monthly accounts and was pleasantly surprised. I’ve had a pay rise. Only two per cent, but in today’s financial climate, that’s better than a poke up the Herschel with a sharp stick.

And I wasted a few minutes going through the forthcoming dates for the diary section of this blog. Milwaukee kite festival is much earlier in the year than I first thought, so that’s probably had to be scratched from my itinerary, which is a shame. Dieppe kite festival is also looking dubious for me – I’m told that the astro club may well be something that weekend. And while I’m scrubbing kiting events from my diary, I’ve still to hear any confirmation of the Sumner’s Ponds. I’ve emailed the management to find out if that one is still going ahead. And I need to make up my mind about when we are going to the Brick Lane curry extravaganza.