Money, money money, its not really terribly funny at all Bjorn!!

It’s leaving my bank faster than a rat from a sinking ship this month If it’s not one thing it’s another and it all started with my car last month which I had a right carry on with. I took my beloved old 4×4 to the garage and was prestented with the £115 quote for replacing the alternator belt and the power steering belt plus labour (the parts only cost £10 each so I must have the most expensive mechanic in Scotland by the hour).  I took it in last Monday morning and left it in their capable hands to get the work done and I gets a phone call at 4pm to tell me they have the wrong size belts from their suppliers and can I leave the car with them till tomorrow as they have already stripped the engine (2 hours of work on my Pajero).  Unfortunately for them, the only way I can get to work is by car, there is no bus or train service to Livingston from here so I needed my car so they were left with the possibility of having to put my car back together again and then me bringing it back on Wednesday and them having to strip it all again to change the belts.  Not my problem, I either wanted my car back with the belts tightened as a temporary measure (which they did for me the Friday before) or with the new belts in place.  Them she calls me back to tell me they have located 2 belts of the correct size locally so I can picl my car up at 5.30pm but, its going to cost me an extra £10!!!!  I think not!!!  I promptly explained to them that the fact they had the wrong size belts was not my doing and that I was happy to bring the car back in on Wed to have the work done for the quoted price – if they chose to source the belts from a more expensive supplier in order to get the work done that day, it was their decision so they could foot the bill for it.  She didnt argue with me and I paid £111 at 5.30 and joyfully picked my car up at the agreed time. What a cheek though, expecting me to pay for their suppliers mistakes.

I had to pay the vet bill from late on last year too, £219 in mud fever fees, and Arion was due his annual booster and I got his back checked too. Of course the vet found a stifle injury on his right hind which is why he has been so stiff so I am looking forward to receiving the bill for his Bute and his check up now.  On a posiitive note, I had the saddle fitter out today and to my delight, she has said she just needs to reflock my current Albion saddle so no need to be paying out £700 for a new one – just £60 to reflock the existing one. Of course I now have to wait over a week for that to come back from the saddlers and cant ride my horse – but I can ride other horses at the yard so its cool and it will give him some rest for his stifle although he will still need to be walked out in hand every day.

Dylan’s long awaited Halo Wars game came out at the weekend, he has been talking about this game since last October, so we went along to Gamestation this evening and bought it after school.  He couldn’t just get the game though, he had to give me the puppy dog pleading eyes for the Special Edition at £50 and I caved when he threw his arms around me in the shop and announced to Cumbernauld Shopping Centre that he would “love me foreverandeverandeverandeverandever” and he would “keep his room tidy for a whole month” if I let him have it.  To be fair he did put his £15 vouchers towards it so it only cost £34.99 in the end and I have the happiest son in the West of Scotland who is still telling me he will “love me forever”.  Bless!

I took the car to the car wash this evening and just as I put my coin in the slot and lifted the jet wash hose, the heavens opened and it started pissing with rain.  Not to be wasteful I continued cleaning the car trying as best I could to ignore the fact that I was getting a washing too.  The children sat in the car and laughed at me, well they were laughing until I opened the car door and threatened to give them a blast with the jet spray heehee

We have booked a wee holiday for the first week of the Easter holidays and will be taking the children to Blackpool.  They have been desperate to go for ages so we may as well take them and get it over with.  I hate the place and I have terrible memories of a childhood filled with annual  holidays to Blackpool for a fortnight where the only good thing about the entire trip were the Blackpool donkeys who I adored and wanted to stay with all the time and the fact that the Circus had real animals in it which, as a child, I thought was quite possibly the coolest thing ever!!  I hated the fact that I could go on holiday and meet my entire street from home in between the North and South Piers.  I hated the fact that I got sunburn, every year, without fail.  I hated the fact that I had to sit in a hotel bar with my mum and dad while they got merry on whisky and I was supposed to amuse myself somehow.  Amusing myself usually meant firing as many 10p’s as possible into the little Space Invaders game in they foyer whilst trying not to die of complete and utter boredom.  The year that the Prince of Wales married Diana was the worst because it was everywhere, there was no escaping this royal bloody wedding and my mother wanted to stay in the hotel and watch it.  I was completely uninterested in it and wanted to go play with the donkeys.  I ended up in the basement pool room with the hotel owners kids laying over the pool table whining about how bored we were.

I am hopeful that a trip the Blackpool with my own kids will help to redeem my memories of the place.