1907.17 WEBCOMIC: HOT

It's been very hot and clammy recently.

1906.27 WEBCOMIC: TURTLES

Its been a while since I did a comic strip. I've always struggled with the gags. I've been collecting a few over the months so hopefully I'll have a few more up my sleeve.

1812.02 CHRISTMAS PRELUDE

Christmas has come around so quickly this year, my head is still spinning from the last on. Isn't it time Christmas was like the Olympics? Then we'd have a few extra years to catch up.

1809.26 WEBCOMIC: LATE NIGHT SHOPPING

It's been a long time since I did a webcomic, I find it difficult to harvest the jokes to draw. Enjoy it and I'll try and find some new jokes (I welcome submissions, there's no money in it but I do give full credit).

1801.28 WEBCOMIC: ETaDO #6 - SHOP

Evil Takes a Day Off #6; Well that's potentially embarrassing! Evil goes shopping.

1710.08 WONDERFUL EVERYDAY

It's been over 20 years in the making. People have actively campaigned for this to happen. Well the wait was finally over as Sheffield welcomed Ikea to the city last week as the Swedish store opened it's doors to it's 20th UK premises. 

1708.10 UNDERPANTS AND CAR WASHING

It's come around again. It's time to pack for our annual pilgrimage to Wales.

1702.12 SUNDAYS USED TO BE SPECIAL

When I was a child Sundays used to be a time you spent with your family, TV was rubbish and it was illegal for shops to open (although some did so illegally). So what did we do? Well I used to visit my grandparents, Sunday dinner was mandatory and I remember listening to the radio quite a bit. I'm not from a religious background but I felt Sundays were a special day.

1612.22 WHAT ABOUT BOB CRATCHETT?

Watching or reading most Christmas media shows the build up to the big day as a pleasant experience where everyone smiles whilst shopping and brass bands play carols in the background. Is this a really the case?

1611.29 SHOPPING IN NIGHTWEAR

It's something I see a lot. Too much. When I visit one of my local supermarkets I inevitably see someone shopping in either pyjamas or a onesie. It's not someone popping out in a desperate rush for emergency supplies, most of the time it's people doing a shop. How hard is it to throw a few clothes on?

Last week I called into my local Tesco Express for some milk. Whilst in there I saw a chap in pyjamas, dressing gown and slippers shopping with a basket browsing the shelves. Why!? Just get dressed!

It really annoys me and it's not confined to shops either. I've passed primary schools where mothers have taken their kids to school in their jim jams. Come on!

There are times and places for certain types of clothing. You don't wear your winter coat to bed, you don't wear swimwear at a court appearance. So why do certain people think it's ok to wear house/nightwear to the shops? Please just stop!

1611.17 PRELUDE TO CHRISTMAS

Well the Christmas preamble is well on it's way with retailers in full festive mode pushing their wares on the great unwashed. I have to admit I've been dragged into this shopping frenzy by Morticia (under duress you understand).

As well as the shops the media is also getting in on the action, pop up channels 'Christmas 24' and 'True Christmas'  are churning out cheesy American Christmas movies 24 hours a day.

Formula for cheesy American Christmas movie is...

Santa's child/sibling/elf arrives in American town/city to find love

+

single parent with sickly cute kid

=

some sort of caper where someone learns true meaning of Christmas oh and the two get together.

You can tweak the basics but most follow this formula. 

What about the pre Christmas traditions? Most are new and created for the purpose of making the said great unwashed buy stuff they don't want.

The John Lewis Ad

This only started back in 2007 and only became a 'thing' more recently. This year's is a bit shit. Better than the pervert on the moon from last year though. You can see this year's ad featuring Buster the dog here.

Buster the dog ©John Lewis

Other retailers such as Marks and Spencer and Sainsburys (and more recently the likes of Aldi) have tried to muscle in on the act. My favourite has to be Sainsburys (their ads are far superior in my opinion), see the latest one here.

©Sainsburys 

None of the ads have encouraged me to shop in the respective outlets so whilst entertaining, they seem to be ineffective.

Black Friday

This nasty little 'tradition' was first brought to our shores (from America) in 2013 by Asda, the Leeds based supermarket chain which also happens to be a subsidy of US retail giant, Walmart. Since then it has spread like a plague being peddled by the likes of Amazon, Tesco and Argos. Black Friday has to be the worst example of greed I've ever seen. I view this 'thing' with absolute contempt. The behaviour it encourages is beyond despicable, watching mad mobs fight over a discounted telly is soul destroying.

Image subject to copyright 

Christmas is a great time to connect with family and friends, eat and drink a bit too much and watch cheesy movies (I do secretly enjoy those cheesy movies) but the greed, especially from big business is unacceptable. Enjoy this time but don't get caught up in the commercialised mess that Christmas has become.

1609.21 PLUMGATE

Don't worry, whist this is a blog post about plums, it's not the plums you might be thinking of. These plums are mine but they are ones I purchased in our local Tesco store. 

I bought them the other day whilst shopping because they were £1. When I got home I noticed a discrepancy with the receipt. 

I'd been charged £1.50! Whist I was a little peeved about this it wasn't a massive deal, after all it was only 50p (I know that's a 50% overcharge but it's not a huge amount). I was still annoyed enough to fire off a tweet in Tescos direction. Along with the photo as evidence. 

They were very quick to respond and without quibble or question offered me double the difference (via a money card).

Tescos online customer service team, I have to say, have got it nailed. Fast, polite and not afraid to add a little personality either. Well done them! 

All I was really after was an apology and perhaps fixing the pricing issue so it didn't happen to anyone else. This morning I received my refund+ through the post.

Now what to spend my windfall on? A packet of ham? More plums? 

1603.27 THEY TALK FUNNY DARN SOUFF

Like most Easters of late we travelled down to Morticia's mother's for the weekend. We drove down around dinner(lunch)* time and although there were a couple of hold ups along the way, the journey was without note or incident. The day was bright and sunny and we enjoyed the drive, our car has a glass roof so we can really make the best of these nice car trips.

St Neots is a town just off the A1 just below Peterborough and not far from Cambridge. It's a place I've become familiar with over the years and have developed a fondness for the place, even if the people talk funny!

They (the town) have recently acquired a small cinema and with it a couple of chain eateries. Friday night we went to Frankie & Bennys. The service was dreadfully slow and the servers didn't even know their own menu (we had to point). The food when it arrived was poor quality and in the case of Morticia's salad, wasn't as described. The cost I found was on the high side for this type of restaurant, in hindsight we'd have gotten better food at better value at a Wetherspoon's (I'm a big fan of Wetherspoon pubs). A twitter complaint went in as soon as I got back.

Saturday we went into town. It's a small but pleasant shopping centre that's easy to traverse (it's one street and a market square). We had a late dinner/early tea in the cafe in the square (as we usually do) which in all our opinions was better than the meal last night. The town recently (this week) acquired a B & M Bargains store in the small retail area on the edge of town so we were obliged to visit. I watched the locals traversing the store in wonder as I smugly smiled to myself (we have 2 withing 5 minute drives of our house). We got back to Morticia's mother's house just moments before storm 'Katie' unleashed. I spent the evening relaxing whilst doodling cartoons and sipping a bottle of beer.

I went to bed with a slight headache which stayed with me throughout the night. I dreamed that my bike had been stolen (the bike in my dream however wasn't my bike in reality). Maybe this was withdrawal and I was aware of the ride I'd be missing Sunday morning?

*I think it's a northern thing but I call lunch=dinner and what everyone else calls dinner is either tea or supper depending on the time.

1108.30 BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND

As we sometimes do, the family decided to go south to visit Morticia's mother in St Neots. Even though I'd already returned to work I considered this part of my holiday. I booked a couple of extra leave days and we went down Thursday evening. We were late setting off because I had to take Morticia's dad and his dog to the vets.

On the Sunday Morticia's mother and her partner took our girls to a local air show. This gave Morticia and me some time together. This almost never happens, we decided to go into town - they were having a little festival or fayre.

There's a pub in St Neots called the Pig & Falcon, we've been past it a dozen times and I've always fancied popping in. Today we could, and did. It was a lovely little ale house which was full of character and looked like it had live bands on at weekends. Whilst there I sampled a couple of local ales;

• Potbelly Best
• Citra

We decided to stay an extra night so we could return and sample the atmosphere of this place on a night out. Sadly Morticia's ME kicked in and pit paid to our plans.

Whilst down there I love to rummage in the local charity shops. Managed to bag myself Stephen Fry's biography for £3.

The original plan was to come home on Bank Holiday Monday. In the end we left on the Tuesday.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

1104.23 ST GEORGE

As usual for this time of year we are all down south visiting Morticia's mother and her partner. I enjoy the break and for a change my eldest is behaving pretty well.

Today is St George's Day, the day we celebrate our Englishness. We visited the town centre today, it's been extremely hot so after perusing local shops we sat outside the cafe in the town square for a cuppa. I couldn't help but look on in envy at the lone cyclist enjoying a break. I really want that, the bike, the journey, the lifestyle. As we enjoyed our break we were treated to some unexpected entertainment.

Morris dancing, how English, how apt. Even Rags had a go. Perfect.

I purchased 2 books from the Cat Protection charity shop and was given a free one from the box of unsaleable book box.

Tonight is Doctor Who night with the premiere of the new series. It's been taped (is it people of my aged group that say 'taped' when they mean Sky+ or similar?) and I'm still waiting to watch it.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

0912.19 TIS THE SEASON

So it's the final leg of the road to Christmas. A time when people panic buy because they are worried that the shops may never reopen again after Christmas Day and traditionally you have cupboards full of food you're not allowed to eat because 'it's for Christmas'!

A week last Thursday saw our office party. If I'm honest I'd say that I wasn't looking forward to it (in fact if I could have gotten out of it I would have). In the end and despite not partaking in the drinking of alcohol, I had a wonderful night (and it's safe to say that so did Morticia).

Christmas shopping is painful and hideous and I've hated every minute. What is fun about spending more than you can afford then giving the stuff away?

Last night was the annual Jolly Boys Christmas drinkipoos. The Jolly Boys event used to be well attended, unfortunatly, as last year, there were only 2 of us; Mr C and myself. We toured the various hostileries within Rotherham town centre taking in the sights of the lady Santas of which there were many. As usual we ended up in the Snafu (the town's premier rock bar) where I unleashed my air guitar skills.

Considering I didn't get to bed whilst 3 this morning I'm feeling pretty good today (I've been at work since 9:00, this is a miracle)

0911.19 CHANGE OF PLAN

This week should have been work Monday and Tuesday then off till Sunday (annual leave). Change of plan, because of a family emergency (which would be inappropriate of me to go into detail about here) I've ended up being off Monday till Thursday, back at work tomorrow (Friday), then off Saturday and back again on Sunday. What a messy week!

Went Christmas shopping on Wednesday and Thursday, hating the season already. I'm not going to blather on about how fucked up the whole thing is again, I guess I do that most years. It's just a demon I have to live with.

Four of the fence panels that broke during the last storm are now shattered and spread across the garden. Two of them are the responsibility of next door. I'm not confident that they will do anything about it, since their English is awful I guess I'm going to struggle with this one.

Spend some of my time off setting up home wifi so I can connect the wii to the internet. I now have BBC iPlayer on the main TV (the whole purpose for doing this) and my phone can enjoy a fast internet link when I've at home.

Been reading some 5 year old blogs of mine. It's amazing how some things have changed and others have stayed the same.

0904.26 TESCOS COMETH

My life just doesn't get any duller than it is at the moment. All bed and work with very little else. Time and money seem to be holding me back from living.

I was actually excited at the prospect of doing my supermarket shop online. The monthly shop had become more and more difficult. We just couldn't take the kids along anymore, it became too difficult lugging them along so it ended up easier not doing the full shop and we just ended up just popping to the shops as we needed. The costs were astronomical, fuel and the extra items we ended up buying all mounted up.

I was pleasantly surprised at the service (I guess I was worried about the whole process about someone else doing my shopping). It meant that there is food in the cupboards and we've saved quite a substantial amount of money.