Tired

I haven't written here for a few days because I simply haven't had time. I'm sort of hoping that some point in the future might bring me leisure time again. I'm not fed up, I'm just tired.

This weekend was actually quite fun. We went out and bought a new CD cabinet and TV stand. I know that doesn't sound like a fun way to spend a Sunday, and I didn't think I'd be enjoying myself either, but we did. The reason we needed this furniture was largely down to Dumpy. He's beginning to crawl now and his tiny fingers are in everything. The existing CD rack was too small, had no door, and was located on the floor because the Dragon has an irrational fear of anything mounted on a wall. So a new cabinet, with doors was required. The TV has always been precariously mounted on an antique oak table. Over and above the fact that it has always threatened to tip over and smash the TV, cable management has always been an issue. You don't realise how dangerous a house is until you have a suicidal toddler in it.

Anyway, we motored up to Ikea in Bristol and came back with some nice, solid wood items. All is now installed, and we all feel much safer. There were loads of people there. I can't really think that people go Christmas shopping at Ikea however, so I don't understand why.

I've been hyper busy at work, but I am intending to take the week off next week. I have to use up my holiday before the end of the year. So a week off is in order. I've only had 1 day off sine I started work here in August.

The car, which is in desperate need of a service is going to the car doctor on Wednesday (tomorrow). I think the brake pads are shot. I think I've reached an age where I can send a car to have brake pads changed without feeling guilty for not doing it myself. Changing brake pads is not a great way to spend an hour. It's usually cold and raining when you need to do it. I hope it comes back by Saturday because we are supposed to be going to Devon for the weekend. It needs a couple of other things done as well.

Abu Hamza has lost his appeal and has to stay in prison - Good. An attempt is now being made to recover his court costs, which were paid for with public money. There also seems to be some kind of investigation in progress into how he managed to buy a £220,000 house while in prison. Wasn't he claiming benefit? I can't understand how this foul man ended up in prison, when Nick Griffin, who is equally foul, did not.

A Canadian based scientist who was caught taking pictures up children's skirts as they played on the sculptures in Trafalgar Square has been sentenced to 15 months in jail. The thing that really got my attention about this story was the sheer scale of his hobby. This guy apparently had 500,000 indecent images of children on his laptop. If you looked at 1 image every second, 24 hours a day, it would take nearly 6 days to view all those images. How long has he spent collecting these pictures? It must have been his entire life.

Train fares are set to rise in January by between 3% and 7%. Currently the 55 minute journey between my home in Swindon and London, Paddington is £82 return. Yes, £82 for a 55 minute journey, and the price is to rise by more than twice level of inflation.