If you are of a sensitive nature you may wish to turn away now. The last couple of days have not been good.

Yesterday we were due to have Tesco delivery between 6-8pm, this way I would be home to lug everything into the kitchen & put it all away. Nic shouldn't be lifting loadsa heavy stuff like bags of cat litter, multipacks of cat food ( tins ), multiple 2litre bottles of pop, etc - but...... I get home at 5:55 & find tesco is there. Okay so maybe not a major problem, after all the woman delivery driver is great, she always helps carry the stuff inside if we need help & has plenty of time to let you check your delivery - but oh no...Tesco have decided to employ the scruffiest, smelliest, rudest driver they could find. I start checking the list to make sure we've got everything, also had to open all the bags to make sure no glass jars broken because he was just throwing the crates down in my doorway, he then has the cheek to tell me that he can't wait for me to check everything off because he's only got 6 minutes left before going back to the store!!! I told him that I don't care how short of time he is I will sign for nothing until I have checked it all off, & considering he wasn't supposed to be there until after 6 he would have to bloody well wait. Eventually I checked everything off & signed for my delivery, no 'thank you', no 'goodbye', no nothing. So I rang up & complained about him, I have told the store manager that in future when I place orders they had better make sure he is not the driver or I will turn him away, no way am I going to have some delivery driver speak to me like I'm an inconvenience to him ( I would like to point out at this point that I have 20 years customer service experience & I work in the courier trade so I know what its like on the other side ). Not only that but as I told them, if Nic had to carry everything in herself & anything had happened to her or L'il Vamp I would be going on a killing spree in tesco's. The tesco manager told me she'd 'sit him down & give him a talking to'....WHAAAATTT! Sack the scruffy, useless tw*t. If any of my staff had ever been that rude to a customer they'd be sacked for gross misconduct.

Then last night was another night of not getting much sleep, so today I was not in a very happy, smilie mood. I took Nic to work & decided I would go into work early myself, yesterday when I took Nic to work I spent the time back at home constantly checking the clock to see if it was time to go to work. My friend who was supposed to be on the early shift was off because her daughters ill ( hope smiler gets better soon ) so they asked me to do her job today as I was in early....big mistake agreeing to this. Everyone & their dog was calling in today because of a problem with a diverted flight, being the nice customer focused individual I am I put on a brave face & took loads of crap with people blaming me for the problems. Like a fool I magreed to go in early again tomorrow cos my friend won't be back til next week. On top of that it seems that the same people are always getting the shitty shifts at work, if your face fits you can always get out of late shifts which annoys the hell out of the rest of us that work a lot harder than these people but always seem to get dumped on. I am on late shifts next week, which I must admit I was quite grateful for because it meant I wouldn't be on lates christmas week, but I get the new rota today & I am on a floater shift which is when we have to cover for any absences or holidays - yes you've guessed it, the person who always seems to find a way out of lates is on lates christmas week, this will probably mean that they will try & get me to work lates..hahahahahahaha - not gonna happen. I have helped out with the crappy files a few times recently so I will use this tomorrow when I tell my boss that I am not gonna be doing lates on christmas week.

Right well enough whingeing, I am going to watch Ramsay's ktchen nightmares now ( we taped it earlier this week before you start looking in the tv listings ), I will enjoy a nice glass of beer & maybe some chocolate cake too. I hope I haven't offended anyone too much with my rants ( unless you're the tesco delivery driver in which case, tough! ) ...take care all. ....VampJack x 

Monday blues

I lay in bed this morning listening to the rain beating down & thinking, I'll drive to work today. As ithappens the rain stopped by the time I pulled myself out of bed so I did the sensible thing & walked, it'd take me just as long to drive as walk with the shift I'm on this week. I might drive tomorrow though just because I can!

Of course I had to tell everyone at work that I'd got a new car, christ if this is what I'm like with a car imagine how boring I'll be when my son arrives. Everyone's gonna be 'sorry i'm really busy'. Still what do I care, i make it my job to wind people up now so it'll be no different when L'il Vamp's here, just a change of subject. Talking of work, I've got a training workshop on thursday, really not looking forward to that. I work for an american company & their training methods are very american, ie patronising & insulting to people who've been in the industry for 20 years. Don't get me wrong, this sort of thing possibly works in america but I'm not in america. If I was to tell a customer 'i feel your pain' they'd think I was taking the piss. Its nearly december though so better not complain too much, we usually get an advent calendar from the boss, it may not be much but its the little things that make life more enjoyable.

I got an invite from my friend at work today, she's getting married next april & had a nice invitation to the evening party. I told her Nic wouldn't like it cos she put Nicky & not Nic....but I gotta tell you, I really don't think we can go.....Only me & Nic have been invited - WHAT ABOUT MY SON??? Only kidding N, you know I will be there if I can!! I think she's the only friend of mine that actually reads this  - or should I say, the only pre-j'land friend as I feel I have loads more friends now.

before I go I just wanted to pass on some bad news, all those that like Animal from the muppets may want to stop reading now. It is my sad duty to inform you that Animal has been found savaged by a wild beast, & it gets worse...I have to take some responsibility for this tragedy. You see when we were sorting out the back room we found Animal ( another great freebie from mcdonalds - well they have to give you something for eating that crap ), Bailey instantly took a liking to him ( or should that be disliking )& has since kicked him, threw him around, chewed him & generallyabused the poor thing. I guess the only good thing about this is that at least it wasn't one of my Garfields, then Bailey would have really been in trouble. If anybody wishes to contribute to Animal's private medical costs during his recovery please email me for the address to send cheques to!!!

Anyway, monday's nearly over so things can only get better. Until next time, take care ...VampJack x

 

 

Another (nearly) lazy Sunday

So here we are on another sunday, the last sunday in november, where the hell did this month go??? Nic got up before me today which is getting to be a habit at weekends to be honest, lovely person she is she brought me a cup of coffee in bed. Mind you didn't get to stay in bed too long because today was the day.....my car was waiting for me.

What do you think to my new motor? Okay so its not a brand new Merc or a Lamborghini or Ferrari but its mine, all mine & I love it. Just a word of warning, if you see me in your mirror coming up behind you....get outta my way! Only kidding, I do like driving fast but only when the road conditions, weather & traffic allow it. When it comes to urban driving I am a very mild mannered & courteous person ( stop bloody laughing its true ).

I will let you get back to your lazy sunday now, just wanted to tell you all about my new car, off to do my tesco shopping online now....VampJack x 

Saturday & everyone's gone shopping mad

Hello again everybody, have you all got your christmas shopping done? Well I have except last coupla online bits!

I didn't get the car I wanted, the price went too high so I had to let some other person have it, on the plus side I did get a car this week...have a look at the piccies!!! Yes I got my Schumacher Records edition model. On hte first pic you can see the plaque in front of the car, this lists his records that he now holds. It would have been nice to have had the Championship edition but alas it was not meant to be. This is one thing that L'il Vamp is definitely NOT getting his hands on, & my bloody cats can stay the hell away from it too.

I have also found another car - a real one this time that I can drive!! It's not quite as nice as the one I test drove last sunday but its still a Laguna which is the car I want. Its a p reg 1997 model 1.8, this one needs some wheel trims to make it look a little better & it has a small crack on the back bumper but nothing major......as long as they don't sell it tonight ( which they shouldn't as I've told them I'm coming over tomorrow with the cash, but you never know ) then tomorrow I will be mobile again. I'm pretty sure I can find the time to take a piccy & put it on here once I get it.

I had to go into town today to get the money out for the car, bloody hell.....the whole world's gone mad. I could hardly move, people are pushing & shoving & elbowing others outta the way....anyone'd think the shops were  selling out of everything. I am so glad that I don't have to fight my way around town for christmas presents this year, if I do have to go into town I will certainly not be driving, the traffic was nearly gridlocked today. I felt like standing in the centre of town & yelling at everyone to stop, its christmas not the end of the world.

This is fun typing this entry, Nic keeps coming in with stuff to put on ebay or freecycle so its like a game of chicken....how many words can I type before she comes back in & I have to change screens!!

Well thats about it for now, I will be back tomorrow to tell you all about my new car providing the buggers don't sell it before I get there. I hope you are all enjoying the weekend, only 4 more weekends until christmas, if you haven't done your shopping yet its time to start military style operations to ensure you have everything done in time...take care & come back soon.... VampJack x

Monday

Oh dear, woke up this morning at 7:38, jumped out of bed because I thought my alarm hadn't gone off & was convinced I was going to be late for work. halfway through frantically brushing my teeth I realised my alarm was set for 7:45, no point going back to bed for a few minutes so decided there was only one thing for it.....COFFEE!

Apart from that little monday muddle the day was okay. Only slight concern is on ebay, there's a really nice car on there that I want. I went for a test drive yesterday & it is soooo nice, only problem is that its creeping up in price & I suspect it may go over my budget. I will be absolutely gutted if it does because this car is the car I've wanted for a while, its nothing flash just a smart looking hatchback that has one of the smoothest drives I have experienced. I'm not telling any of you what car it is just yet in case you decide to bid on it!! Rest assured if I do get it I will post a piccy as soon as poss.

Talking of pics, I have had more than one request for pics of me, Nic & L'il Vamp ( well okay, me, Nic & bump )...you people must be mad, I am not photogenic at all. As Nic still doesn't know about this journal I can hardly ask her to pose for a pic for my journal either. I have every intention of posting a family mugshot once my son graces us with his presence so I am afraid you will just have to wait ( trust me, I really would not want to put you off your breakfast/elevenses/dinner/whatever ).

Nic's parents dropped off some of the stuff my sister sent up with Nic's aunt yesterday, there is loads of stuff for L'il Vamp. To be honest though I won't be using it all, some of the items are a little on the girlie side. Nothing wrong in theory except my sister has 2 boys....if one of my nephews starts listening to Barbara Streisand I'll know why now ( a peach jumper, for a little boy...come on! ). There's still the baby bath full of toys at Nic's parents house for us so being a typical bloke I can't wait to get my hands on them, after all that's why us blokes have kids - so we can play with the toys without anyone telling us to grow up. Nic put one of the little cardigans on our cat Bailey, poor bugger couldn't walk properly in it, apparently she tried putting a little hat on him as well. I know she wanted a little girl so she could dress her up but I think she's finally losing her mind, what makes it worse is that there is a cats christmas jacket in the new woolworths red book & she wants to buy it for Angel.

Well thats all for tonight, I've just started reading a new Clive Cussler book this weekend & want to read some more, his books always make me wish I didn't have to go to work as I never want to put them down. Take care all, hope the gale force winds are not battering you too much...VampJack x 

The Trial day

So today started just like any other day - the alarm went off, I hit the snooze button  & eventually got out of bed 7 minutes later. There the normality ended.

Myself & Nic were due at coventry crown court today following a car accident I had 3 and a half years ago. I had been driving a road that I drove on nearly every day when some numpty ( who we will call Mr Smith, okay so he really is Mr Smith but what the hell, sue me I didn't use his full name ) drove into the side of my car. My car was a write off & since then I have been unable to buy a new car because I could not afford the extra insurance. So we turn up nice & ealry but as my barrister was coming from Liverpool he was late due to major problems with the trains in the midlands ( hell, even one of the judges was late because of the trains ). So he gets to court, we have a 10:30 appointment but this is missed due to the train problem, eventually the case that took our slot finished at 12:50 - only for the judge to want to break for lunch. After a nice lunch ( Greggs sausage & bean melt - lovely ) we got into court at 14:00. All day the other driver was sitting in the waiting area in the next room from us & I have to admit that he looked worried. I may not be the most confident person in the world but I know how to walk with supreme confidence, which I did & enjoyed seeing Mr Smith looking more worried every time I walked by. This may be childish but I don't care, he has caused me a lot of grief over the last 3.5 years with not having my own transport so I was going to make the most of it.

When we got into court I was gobsmacked, he was wearing a scruffy fleece top with a scruffy polo shirt underneath, he never removed the fleece top in court & just looked like a complete scruff. Again, I may not be the most snappy dresser but at least I made an effort & wore shirt & tie. Basically his story was that I made a manouver that would have taken at least 30 seconds to complete & that I drove out of a side road straight into him. This is all complete bo***cks, the distance he had to travel before catching up with me would have taken him approximately 7 seconds, he claimed it took him 40 seconds to cover this distance ( I had to really stop myself from laughing at him ), he also claimed that I was driving like 'a bat out of hell' to make the manouver, yet when questioned intensely about the distance he was away from the junction when he finally saw me ( according to him, as I charged out of the junction straight into his path )he claimed my brake lights never went on as I was driving slowly - so he has sworn to tell the truth the whole truth & nothnig but the truth then contradicts himself in front of the judge - I could not make this stuff up I promise. 

Anyway, the upshot is that I WON!! Even the judge in his summing up said " I don't believe the defendant". So now it's all over I can finally start looking for a car. I still have to wait for the damages to be awarded, this can either be an offer from the other side or they can wait for the court to award damages. Either way I may not get any money until mid-late 2007. But at least I can afford to insure a car now so tonight I have been on line looking at cars. I want  a Renault Laguna, i've always liked these cars & now may be my chance to pick one up for a reasonable price. Okay so I haven't got any no claims as I haven't been driving for a while but that will soon be sorted after the first year.

The greatest thing would be if I could get a car sorted before L'il Vamp is born so I can bring him home in my own car. I would also be able to visit my mum & my sister more often. Not to mention being able to drive to any of the local parks around warwickshire when L'il Vamp is here.

I know I have rambled on a bit in this entry but I am so glad this has finally been resolved & in my favour. I will be back during the weekend & next week. In the meantime I hope you all have a great weekend...VampJack x  

Okay, okay so I've been neglecting my journal again this week. Actually i've had a few things going on that have been dragging me down so I just haven't felt like doing anything else. My solicitor called & wants me to go to liverpool to meet with the barrister that will represent me in court, now I know that meeting with him will give me a better cjance in court but I can't get a day off to go up to liverpool & a day off for court - & i've got to be in court on friday. I must admit for the first time since the accident in 2003 I am not feeling as confident about my chances of winning, I know that I was driving correctly & the other numpty is totally at fault I just don't feel that my solicitor has done her job properly. As the solicitor was provided by my insurance company I can't afford to sack her & get someone better. Don't get me wrong, yes i'm out of pocket thanks to numpty dickhead driver person ( who shall remain nameless for legal reasons, maybe i'll name & shame in a later entry ), I missed out on lots of overtime  - I was taking home at least £250 per month overtime before the accident, also I have no car & so have lost my freedom as I don't have the money to use public transport to go all over the country. Before the accident I would regularly drive some where at weekends & on holidays to visit friends & relatives or just go for days out with Nic & friends. The thing that really winds me up is that I have money for another car but until this is sorted I can't afford to insure the another car, its gonig to cost between £300-£750 EXTRA insurance a year unless I am cleared of any responsibilty for the crash & I just don't have that kind of money, particularly now L'il Vamp is on the way. I would be happy for the court to clear my name on friday even if I didn't get any compensation ( although that would be nice & most welcome ), at least then I could look at buying another car ( if we were having quintuples Kia would have given us there new people carrier for free - mind you I think I'd be looking to jack daniels to help me cope so wouldn't be able to drive it!! ). So wish me luck for friday.

Not done a lot else this week to be honest, work, work & more work. Mind you we did go to wellesbourne market yesterday, didn't get to spend the time there that we wanted as at 11.40 Nic's dad told us he wanted to  get back for 12.30 ( 40 minute journey ) cos he wanted to watch the horse racing. Why couldn't he have said something sooner, we'd have made sure we got everything done we wanted but no, that would be far too easy. Did manage to get myself a new pair of boots though, black ones with steel toe caps ( not essential but they cost less than my usual boots without steel toe caps )...so maybe if things don't go my way in court on friday I can give someone a good kicking - I am joking by the way so please don't start phoning the police just yet.

Not long got  back from town, Nic's decided she wants to start cooking christmas biscuits & sweets so we've had to go out & buy peppermint essence, a rolling pin, cookie cutters & lots more good stuff. I might even be able to get in the kitchen myself for half hour to make my delicious mince pies with sweet pastry. My dad's a chef so both my sister & I were taught to cook as soon as we could reach the cooker. So if anyone's in Coventry pop in for some nice treats & a coffee.

The good news is that Nic only has to get her dad's present & a little extra for her mum, which she will get when she goes shopping with her friend this week or next. I just need to get my nephews a couple of books which I may ask my sister to get as I am having trouble finding them here in cov, other than that Nic wants some dvd's & that is it - FOR ONCE MY XMAS SHOPPING IS DONE BEFORE DECEMBER!!! It is such a relief knowing there's no running around on 24th december. I've been saving my tesco vouchers too so next month I will get tesco to deliver my groceries & will have about £30 in vouchers to use. I'm still waiting for something to go wrong because I am never this organised, but fingers crossed this year will be so much easier than previous years.

Well that's it for today, I promise I will try & make more regular entries but with the court case on friday this week may well be another week without adding an entry until the weekend. Take care all.... VampJack x

Toys R Us with a fussy mum to be

Went to Toys R Us today, Nic's parents took us to show us the pushchair they want to buy us - or to give it the correct name the travel system they want to buy us. What the hell is that all about, its a bloody pushchair with a car seat/baby carrier. Why do they have to give fancy names to everything nowadays, we should all stand up & say - enough! Anyway, I thought it was nice, it had everything you could wish for, light, easy to manouver, comes with baby carrier/car seat, rain cover, footmuff, changing bag & it's easy to collapse ( well actually I was the only one that could collapse it, Nic, her mum & dad all tried & failed....see left handers are better at everything ). But oh no, it's the wrong colour, Nic wants a black one not a blue one so we've now got to find another pushchair that she likes for them her parents to buy us. She did find one she likes - £300, for a sodding pushchair! I reckon the manufacturers of these items are on to a good thing, they know people have to have these things so they hike the prices to excrutiatingly painful levels. I'm beginning to hope my L'il Vamp is a good looking lad like me ( okay so hopefully a whole lot better looking than me ) then I'm going to make him earn his keep as a baby model. I think I'll get Nic to steal a shopping trolley from work to use as a pushchair & let him sleep in the ottoman at the end of our bed, at least that way I won't end up in the poor house by this time next year.

Doing some more xmas shopping on the internet today, I'm nearly done now. Nic's aunt is coming to coventry soon so my sisters dropping off some hand me downs from my 2 nephews as she lives near Nic's aunt, hopefully we'll be able to presuade her to take my sisters/nephews presents back with her as well otherwise its going to cost me a fortune in postage. But what the hell its only once a year. Nic's dad's still a pain, we've been trying to get him to tell us today what he wants but still drawing a blank there, I really don't want to do the age old back up of giving him  a bottle of whiskey. I have already told everyone else who usually asks for vouchers/money that this year I refuse to give vouchers/money & have for once got sensible idea's for presents from them.

My friend at work has had a nice idea, last year we did secret santa & apart from when she asked me what I wanted ( Spinal Tap dvd, I love it ) most people got stuff they will probably never use & would never buy in a  month of sundays. So this year we are going to try & get everyone in the team to agree to giving to charity. It only takes a couple of pounds from everyone ( a lot less than the £10 secret santa presents last year ) & we can do some good, I try to give when I can to charities but this is something I really want to do. Last year I spoke to several friends who felt that there was no xmas atmosphere, at work, at home & in town ( & this was friends in different places around the uk so it's not just this town ). We all expressed the same feeling of emptiness at a time when we should all have been having a good time, each of us said that we felt as though we should have been giving our time to help those less fortunate than ourselves or at the very least we felt that we didn't need or want half the presents we got so the money could have gone to better use helping others. It may only be a little gesture but if everyone at work did this instead of swapping presents ( & lets face it unless you know your colleagues really well we tend to all buy the same smelly gift packs, chocolate or wine ) we could really help those who are not as lucky as us.

Changing the subject completely, i'm not one to express my political views too much unless I know the people I'm talking to but I have to say that I am pleased to hear about the sentence passed on Saddam Hussain, we don't need people like him in this world, now if we could only get a similar verdict on George Bush!

Hope you're all having a great weekend, remember to wrap up warm when you go out....love Vamp x