Tuesday the 31st July post

This is gonna be my eighth daily blog post... what do you all think?  Do you prefer long one-a-day posts like the last week has been or multiple short posts a day?

I'm genuinely interested in what you all think 'cos I can see the positive's and negatives of both choices, so I need your help to decide the future of the posts please?

I'll go with the majority and you don't have to give your name if you don't want to, just your first initial is fine and dandy, I just want some feedback about what you want me to do in future is all  👌
___

I'm gonna stop counting the rejected surveys every day, I'm guessing it annoyed you all something rotten to just have a few words counting up by 10 a time so I ain't gonna do that any more.  If I take a particularly interesting survey then I'll still post, but no more counting from now on  👍
___

I'm trying to stay positive that I'll be re-awarded ESA in November so
I'll be able to pay for 3 of the 6 undergraduate courses I need up front
so that I don't get into debt again, so soon after getting out of my 22
year long debt.

In theory I'll be entitled to a DSA for each of the undergraduate courses
I do with the OU but I know very little about them.  Don't suppose anyone
here has studied at University level and been awarded a DSA that they
could tell me about could they?  Pretty please?

I'm hoping that I'll be able to get comb-bound books and conference call
tutorials and transcripts of the telly programmes and extra time and be
able to use my notes in the exams as well as being able to have the exams
at home again directly from the OU, so what else can a DSA do to help,
please?

If my GP supports my application for the DSA, it'll be for the psychotic
depression, brain damage (aka memory problems), the mobility problems and
the Korsakov syndrome.  In theory I could be awarded it for the hearing
and sight problems too, but those 4 will be the ones I need most support
with.

Soooo, has anyone here been awarded a DSA in the recent past please? 
What happens at the assessment?  What sort of thing do they recommend to
help with your studies?  How difficult is it to arrange the support
you've been awarded?  Things like that?

TIA!
___

Just taken a survey about pop music that involved listening to 3 snippets of tracks.  The lead singer had a great voice and the music was good but the second singer and the group really clashed with the lead singers vocals.  If it had just been the lead singer on her own I wouldn't have hesitated to give the songs top marks, but the voices really clashed and spoiled it for me unfortunately  👎
___

Apparently survey companies who have access to my IP address would only be able to track it to the nearest hub that assigns IP addresses instead of to our actual address, so I'm gonna start taking every survey I'm invited to now  👍  I was just being overly cautious  😀
___

Got over 100 surveys to do tomorrow already but I'm heading to bed now 'cos I'm cream crackered!
___

Monday's post

Just taken the puppy out for her walkies... I'd have been happy with 100% but she carried on walking for another half the length before we came home, I followed her and she decided to end the walk at 150% bless her tiny furry paws!
___

205 survey invitations for me this morning!!  More will come in during the day, so I'm hoping to be able to do at least 200 IP address rejects today... wish me luck!
___

Scratch that... 110 of 'em were in my "all mail" folder so I've only got 95 invitations after all  😑
___

First 10 surveys wanting to log my IP address that I've rejected.
___

Second 10 rejected and 74 invitations to go
___

Another 10 makes 30 and I've clicked on the link to take 3 surveys that I don't match... so why freakin' invite me then??  You've got all the answers to previous surveys I've done and if you can tell that I don't fit the survey when I've clicked on the link, why not use the same information to not even invite me to those surveys??
___

40 now... they slipped in another different IP address collection survey, but I read everything before I click in surveys so I spotted it wanted to collect my IP address before I clicked through to the survey lol
___

Recycling and rubbish bag emptied now, so we're all set for the day... need to take me supplements before I forget though!
___

They were all a nightmare to get down this morning, 3 mouthfuls of squash to swallow each of 'em... that's 12 glugs instead of my usual 8!  Not good at all  😣
___

First full survey of the day completed... I've now got 300 points and 43 prize draw entries with that company - not too bad I don't reckon!
___

Not bad going... I've just been rewarded $7.15 from the surveys I took last week... I'm guessing it was the Wednesday survey-a-thon that I did or something.
___

50 surveys wanting my IP address... nope, you ain't getting it!
___

Another 2 lasagne's wasted then.  Mine ran out of date on the 28th and Steve's runs out today.  I said about Steve having his and he turned his nose up at the idea, so I've spent more than a tenner on lasagne's that have just been wasted.  I give up.  Steve can survive on take-aways but from now on I'm having one take-away a week and I'll survive on crisps and chocolate the rest of the week if Steve's not going to cook.  Let's see how long it takes him to cotton on to the fact that I refuse to survive on take-aways every day again now.

I'll put loads of chocolate and packets of crisps on next week's order that I'll have for me lunch/tea next week, but no more lasagnes or frozen stuff 'cos it never gets cooked or eaten and I'm fed up of it.
___

Just done a really looooong survey about banks and finances and stuff!  That's my second completed survey of the day... yaaaay!
___

60 survey rejections and 31 potentials left to try before bed time.
___

Up to 70 rejected surveys now.
___

This'll be post number 3801 when I post it this evening... not bad going I don't reckon!
___

74 surveys wanting to track my IP again today.  That'd be a big ole 'nope' from me!
____

Just biddeded on 3 pairs of jeans on eBay.  My maximum bid for each one is £12 plus the shipping of £3 each takes my maximum up to £15 each.  The best bit?  Every one of them meet my 3 jeans criteria... petite size 14 with big thighs.

All 3 of 'em have been worn which is fair enough... potentially £45 for 3 jeans that look to actually fit me will be worth it I reckon, 'cos I'll be potentially getting 3 jeans that actually fit for the price of 1 new one that might not fit!

I don't mind wearing second hand clothes as long as they are the right price and actually fit me!  If I win them and they don't fit, I'll just put them on Freegle like I did with the jeggins that I couldn't get past my knees.  If nobody wants them on Freegle then I'll see if the Dogs Trust wants to put them in one of their shops or online or whatever.

Assuming they fit, I'll invest in a denim jacket too... I've got me eye on a couple on eBay as well lol

Dunno why I didn't think of looking on eBay last night!
___

77 rejects so far today
___

Third survey of the day sorted so I'll be getting points for that at some point soon
___

Fourth survey done and dusted - that's more than I usually get to take a day!
___

Just been outbid on the cheapest pair of jeans so I've increased my maximum bid to £7 now but if I'm outbid on that, then I won't increase my price any more.  I'm not gonna pay more than a tenner including postage for any of 'em.
___

As predicted, Steve wants another take-away for tea and was disappointed when I said I didn't want anything.  Get used to it Steve 'cos it'll be happening for 6 of the 7 days this week.  You're welcome to have take-aways every day if you want to, but I'm so bored of them and want to eat something from here this week!
___

79 surveys rejected today, so I'm gonna take me prescription and see if there's one more survey to be rejected before I head to bed to keep my OCD happy.
___

80 survey rejections.  I can now shut down and go to bed with my OCD giving me a break.  In an ideal world I'd have made it to 100, but I'm happy with a nice round number as a second option!

Nite nite orl!
___

Sunday's post

That's the puppy walked and fed, recycling and rubbish put out and the poo cleared up from the yard and binned too.  Steve's given Mitzi her pill and done her ears and I've emptied my bin... all without an argument this week!!

Gonna take me supplements and hayfever pill now then make a start on rejecting most of today's survey's for wanting my IP address!
___

Hayfever pill and supplements taken now.  Bloated from all the squash it took to get 'em down though!  They were OK to get down I suppose... only crunched up the Calcium but all 3 of 'em took 2 mouthfuls of squash to get down!  😞
___

10 rejections... doubt I'll make it to 100 today 'cos I've only got 64 more invites to surveys so far.
___

20 rejections now
___

30 and counting
___

40 now.  Ideally I want another 60 rejections by the end of the day, but there are only another 34 invites to work through so far 😐
___

50 done, so I'm half way there now.
___

60 with 12 more invitations left.
___

70 surveys wanting to track my IP address and no more invites left  😞
___

2 more rejected surveys have just turned up, so that takes it to 72% of what I'm aiming for  😞
___

Question for the UK ladies reading this:  I'm looking for a pair of jeans that will actually fit me.  I've had a look at Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, New Look, Littlewoods and Amazon and haven't been able to find a single pair that would fit me.

I'm a petite size 14 with huge thighs which presents 3 problems - I can find petite size 14 jeans but I wouldn't be able to get them past my knees.  I've found size 14 jeans with big thighs but they aren't petite.  I've found petite jeans with big thighs, but not size 14... get my meaning?  Manufacturers have thought of 2 of the 3 issues, but I can't find anywhere online that caters for all 3 things I'm looking for!

I've tried jeggings but couldn't get them past my knees because of my thighs, soooooo, if you enjoy shopping then find me somewhere that sells jeans that fit me and let me know the URL?  Ideally under £25 but I'm willing to go up to £40 if I really have to.

I've spotted a couple of denim jackets on Amazon, I just need the jeans to go with them lol
___

Got 16 more survey invites now so I'll take me pills and do 8 of 'em to take it to a nice round 80 then I'll post this and head to bed for a really early night  😃
___

75 now... 5 to go then that's it for today, disappointingly.
___

80 done and dusted and no more invites so I'm gonna leave it there until tomorrow and post this then try and find a way to listen to the radio online until I'm tired and ready for bed.

Nite nite orl!
___

Saturday's post

It's rained first thing and it's raining again now!  Yaaaay!

It's a lot cooler outside too and the pup doesn't want to go for her walk for some bizarre reason!

This Sainsbury's mouthwash is gross!  Way too strong and so sour too... not good at all, I'll be going back to Listerine when I've finished the bottle, total grossness.  👎
___

Virus scan is at 77% so it's achieved 51% in 24 hours *sigh*
___

Hayfever pill and supplements taken.  They all went down pretty easily this morning, thankfully.
___

First survey done and dusted.  No IP logging surveys yet though!
___

10 rejections, so 5% of yesterday or 10% of Wednesday's rejections.
___

10 more makes 20
___

Another 10 makes 30
___

40 now and that's in under an hour!
___

 Up to 50 - takes about a minute for each rejection from moving to the next email to the page coming up asking for permission to store my IP address so, in theory, I'll be finished in about 2.5 hours today.
___

60 in just over an hour and there's 94 survey invitation left, so I'll be finished in just over an hour and a half I reckon.
___

70 done, 88 to go
___

Another 10 done which makes 80... a different looking survey wanted to collect my IP address this time, so that kinda made me look twice!  lol
___

90 now... 10 to go to equal Wednesday and it's only 2.23pm!
___

100 done in about an hour and a half.
___

110 rejected and there are 50 left to see if they are rejectable or not too.
___

120 done and dusted with 39 left to go
___

130 wanting my IP address, 32 to go
___

Third survey of the day completed
___

140 rejections 'cos of them wanting to track my IP address.  Maybe I'm being paranoid, but it's just the way I am!
___

Virus scanning is at 90% now... it always does the second day noticibly quicker for some reason!
___

150 rejections now... things are sssssllllloooowwwwing down now that I've caught up again.
___

Apparently we are having yet another take away for tea... that's at least one a day every day this week and I'm getting bored of it.  I want regular cooked-at-home meals and take aways as a treat instead of vice-versa  😔
___

Virus free and backed up for another week.

Burger for tea and I didn't enjoy it... we've got 2 lasagne's in the fridge - I want the veggie one for me tea tomorrow instead of the 10th take-away of the week!!

Bet I won't get it though and we'll have yet another take-away instead.  😞
___

Friday's post

That's the puppy walked and fed, Steve's given her the prescription she's got and now it's time to medicate me then we're all set up for the day... yay!  👍
___

Gotta try and remember to phone the Benefits Agency to find out one way or the other if I can study at the OU if I'm reawarded ESA in November today too.  Might see if I can find an email address for them instead though so that I can't forget what they say.
___

Virus scan is going too... 26% in 40 minutes which, according to last week, it'll be finished at about 8pm tomorrow, assuming I remember to leave my laptop on overnight of course!
___

That's me medicated up to the eyeballs with the hayfever pill and supplements now so I'm ready for the day too.
___

According to this page, I can study while still claiming ESA as long as I let the bods on the ESA helpline know 'cos it's considered to be a change of circumstances which is awesome!

Assuming I'm re-awarded ESA in November and I stay in the Support group like I have been for 1.5 decades, then I'll apply to the OU to start studying with them and hopefully get a degree eventually so that if I'm ever considered well enough to go back to work and I'm asked what I've done with the time I've been on benefits I can tell 'em that I got my degree!

My bullies made me believe that I was too thick to get a degree and my GCSE results backed them up, but it's only in the last few months that I've realised that if I'm genuinely interested in what I'm learning, not only do I get good scores but I can get a degree too... I didn't start struggling until I did the post graduate course with OpenLearn and C (who was a University Professor until he retired) said that that's normal and the majority of post-graduates struggle with it!

Assuming I can cope with studying every day for 9 months a year and at least 1 exam at the end of every module I really can get a degree as long as I avoid maths and geography and history and science and things like that.

I want to start with the Child Psychology course 'cos that doesn't have an exam but it's a full length undergraduate module, then I'll take it from there!  If I'm awarded ESA for another 5 years then I'll only have 1 more year to study before I get my degree that I never thought I would ever even be able to get through the application bit of let alone start to study - getting a degree was laughed at whenever I said about wanting to do it at school so I soon pretty much forgot about it.

Inwardly though, I was still desperate to study with the OU but it wasn't until 2003/2004ish that I felt able to do anything about it.

I failed the Undergraduate course that I took then because I was too proud and embarrassed to ask for things that would really have helped (comb-bound books, my notes during the exam etc) but I'm not going to do that this time... it'll be hard and embarrassing, but necessary to put me on a level playing field with all the other, non-disabled students aiming for the same degree as me!

I can so do this!!
___

First 10 survey invites have all wanted to record my IP address again.  Hasn't happened the whole time I've been doing surveys and it ain't gonna start happening now either.
___

First survey of the day done and dusted!
___

Second 10 surveys wanting to log my IP address - 20 in less than an hour!
___

Third 10 surveys, so that's 30 in about an hour now.  I ain't gonna let you record my IP address, survey companies so you might as well give up!  lol
___

Second survey was a really quick one... only took a couple of minutes, but as long as I get the appropriate points then that's fine by me!
___

Fourth set of IP surveys rejected by me.
___

Half way there in just over an hour and a half!
___

That's the 60th survey that wanted my IP address who won't be getting it.
___

Just done me third survey of the day, about food this time!
___

70 surveys not getting my IP address... not bad going for not even 2 hours!
___

80 in 2 hours - not bad going I don't reckon!
___

90% now... only 10 to go and I've equalled Wednesday evening.
___

Fourth survey of the day done and dusted!
___

100% already!!  Still got another 79 waiting in my inbox too!
___

Gonna finish off doing the surveys that have come in since midnight just to see how many more want my email address... potentially 83 right now.
___

110 surveys all wanting to record my IP address - tsk!
___

120 not allowed to see my IP address now... that's 20 more than Wednesday and it's only lunchtime!
___

Fifth survey completed... that was a looooong one so I hope I get a decent reward for doing it!!
___

Sixth survey done and dusted... about glasses this time!
___

130 now!
___

 Another 10 makes 140% of Wednesday's rejected-by-me surveys that wanted my IP address.

65 surveys still to go, so it'll be over double the number of surveys I did on Wednesday by the time I've got 'em all done today!!
___

150% and I've just had more come into my inbox too...
___

Seventh survey of the day finished... dunno why I'm getting significantly more IP tracking survey requests and still available surveys all of a sudden!
___

160 surveys so far today that have wanted to track my IP address!
___

Another 10 makes it 170 rejects so far today.
___

180 surveys wanting my IP address so that's 80 more rejections than Wednesday and it's only 5.30pm!
___

190 rejected surveys... 10 to go and I've doubled Wednesday's rejections!!
___

It's official, I've doubled the amount of surveys I've rejected because they wanted my IP address.

As of just now, I've rejected 200 surveys since 9.40 this morning!

Not sure if that's a good thing that I've had over 200 survey invites in almost 9 hours or if it's bad that I've turned down so many opportunities to give my opinion and get rewarded!
___

Chinese for tea yet again  👎  *sigh*  😞

Thursday's post

That's the pup walked, fed and medicated for the day so it's my turn now!
___

That's me sorted for the day too 'cos I've just taken me hayfever pill and supplements.  Bloated 'cos of all the squash now though!
___

A Cornish farmer is busy clearing out his drainage ditches with a backhoe when a mini-bus full of campaigning politicians comes careering down the narrow lane alongside his field and crash at the bottom of the hill.

After inspection he digs a large hole and buries the lot, mini-bus and all.

That evening he mentions it to his wife over dinner.

"Were they all dead then?"

"Well...  Some of them said they weren't, bu you know what lying buggers they all are."
===

Why didn't the prawn share his toys?
He was a little shellfish
===

What do you call a fish without an eye?
A fsh 
___

5 surveys wanting to track my IP address so far...
___

Another 5 surveys so that makes 10 surveys already and there have only been 12 to fill in!
___

And another 5 makes 15 this morning!
___

That makes 20% of what I did last night... you'd think they'd give up after the first few days!!
___

Another 5 means 25%, but I've completed 3 surveys already, compared to yesterday's 2!
___

30% of yesterday's request to log my IP address now
___

35% now.  Not good at all.
___

Another 5 makes 40 surveys that want to find out where I live!
___

45% now... almost half way to equalling yesterday's total of refusing to let them know where I live!
___

Half way through now... I've refused to let 50 surveys record my IP address now.
___

55% and still counting!
___

Up to 60% of yesterday's survey's who want to keep my IP address.  No flippin' chance matey!
___

65 blocked attempts to find my address... getting there slowly but surely.
___

70 now
___

75 - only 25 to go to equal yesterday and it's only 3pm lol
___

80%
___

85%
___

Just finished another survey... that's 4 today and it's not even 4.30pm yet!!
___

90%... 10 left to go to equal what I did yesterday!  You'd think that after a couple of days they would have realises that the survey respondent isn't gonna change their mind about the survey company recording the IP address!!  Tsk!
___

95% and I'm shutting down for the night now 'cos Steve has ordered our tea, again, and I want to be able to put my mac and cheese... it's just arrived so I really do need to shut down now!

Until tomorrow, toodle-pip!

Wednesday's post

Just taken me hayfever pill and 3 supplements... burping fer England now!  lol

The pup has had her pill and ear drops too.  Steve's had his pills too so the 3 of us are all set for the day now!

Gonna take the pup out for her walk when I've finished me coffee then spend all day doing survey's again.  Got cold plain chow mein for me lunch today... again.  I'm getting so fed up with take away's, especially Chinese!
___

That's the pup walked and fed too so, in theory, that's me settled for the day now... bet something will go wrong that means I have to leave the sofa (other than to go to the toilet of course) before lunchtime.  Always does.
___

Farting in a lift is wrong on so many levels

=====

Tonight I dreamt of a beautiful walk on a sandy beach.
 At least that explains the footprints I found in the cat litter box this morning.

=====

My brother went to jail. He didn't take it very well. He was yelling insults and
attacking everyone, he even threw his faeces on the wall. I don't think we will play Monopoly with him again.

=====

I hate cliffhangers because...

=====

Someone stole my mood ring. I don't know how I feel about that.

=====

My grandfather has the heart of a lion, and now, a lifetime ban at the zoo.

=====

An ice cream man has been found dead in his van, covered in hundreds and thousands.  

Police say he topped himself.

___

Just worked my way through all my surveys... 102 (yes I counted) of them were for the same site asking about tracing my IP address.

No way was I going to let them do that, but 102 surveys affilliated with the survey companies I've signed up with wanting to track me down for some bizarre reason!!

No way, no how am I letting that happen!
___

Make that 103!!
___


108 now - they've chosen the wrong person to have a battle of wills with lol
___


117 and still going.... that's just in 15 hours too!
___


Another 7 gets us to 124 in under 20 hours... if they want to waste time sending me to surveys I don't take then I'll keep clicking on the links - ain't got a job and I ain't writing anything or studying atm, so I'll just keep clicking on them links!
___


Another 14 takes us to 138 in 22 hours which is just over 6 every hour!  Not good, but I'm going to bed now... nite nite orl!

Tuesday's blog post

Was awake and downstairs by 7am this morning for some reason, even though I didn't take my prescription until gone 8pm last night.  I'm totally wiped out now though, so I'm gonna try and remember to take me pills at about 6pm and head to bed at 7pm... you watch me forget tonight though!  lol

Took the pup out for her morning stroll then came home and fed her - she's been so hungry that she's gobbled the lot down straight away, yesterday and today!

Taken me hayfever pill and supplements too so we're all set for the day now!
___

Sooooo tired!!!!!!
___

Chinese for tea yet again.  Steve reckons he enjoys cooking and he's being paid to be my carer for 35 hours a week so why are we having take aways for lunch/tea every day?!
___

I keep forgetting to post the lunchtime one, sooo...

My brain keeps letting me down with posting the first of the 2 longer blog posts, so what I'm gonna do is just make one long blog post a day and hopefully remember to put it up before I head to bed... it's just better all round that way I reckon  👌

Might occasionally put up shorter posts but it'll just be one a day for a while I reckon.

First of the daily posts

Just got back from taking the pup out for her daily stroll and yet again an animal has shat right outside our front door which I stood in.  From the smell of it, it's a cat that's done it but their owners are allowed to get away with not clearing it up!!

Steve's onto the council about it now but they won't do anything about it because it's not a dog and we've got no proof that it's not our dog that's done it, it'll be up to us to clear it up again.  The same as it was when Mitzi apparently poo'd and we didn't clear it up even though we always do!

Cats and other dogs can get away with pooing right outside our door but we are threatened with court action for not clearing up other dogs poo's!

___

That's me hayfever pill and supplements taken.  They went down pretty easily today, thankfully!
___

Does anyone know of a Subway around here that delivers?  There are 2 Subway franchises that I can get to in Patrick, but I'm reluctant to put him together just for 2 subs!

A few months ago there was one that delivered but we can't find it any more!

😔

Second of today's longer posts

Crisps, chocolate and cake for lunch again today - so much for Steve enjoying cooking and family walks!  Steve says one thing but totally avoids doing them!

Tsk!
___

Just waiting for our tea to arrive... real proper Burger King at last!  Yaaaay!

___

First of the twice a day long blog posts

Well, we've lost all our UKTV channels and there's a 10 (read 30 in reality) minute wait on the Virgin support line.

I haven't got a clue how much the strop was about, but 4 million Virgin customers aren't happy this morning and if Virgin had just put their prices up by £1 a month, they would have had happy customers and still been able to pay an extra £4 million a month to UKTV!

They had better intend to invest the savings into making more stable internet and employing more staff at their call centres!
___

Walked and fed the pup... no poo on the walk and she was really starvey hungey when we got back!  She got her nose into her food bowl before I'd even finished emptying it in, bless 'er likkle heart!

___

Supplements taken.  The Calcium crumbs went everywhere and the Iron disintegrated on my tongue again, but the multi went down really easily for some reason, so I don't know what happened to make the first two misbehave!
___

Just taken me hayfever pill... run out next Sunday so I hope I've remembered to put more on the shopping order coming tomorrow!!

___

Second of the 2-a-day long posts

Should I put times on each of the posts or not?  Should I just leave it as having the dashes between what was, until this morning, an individual post?
----
 We're having Burger King meals for tea tonight 'cos Steve was paid for his week of work!  Yumsk!
 ----
We're at 92% with the virus scan, so as soon as that's finished I'll back everything up and shut down then put my likkle laptop on the floor so that it doesn't get damaged with the heat from me meal or the ice from the drink!
----
Virus free for another week, thankfully, just gotta back up everything to the external hard drive then I can turn the laptop off and let the battery cool down.
----
Burger King isn't accepting online orders again, so we're going with Yummies Kebab on Just Eat and I'm having a veggie burger, cheesy chips and a can of Dr Pepper 'cos I'm a pig lol

Going to turn me laptop off now until the morning... nite nite orl!

First of the long, twice a day posts!

Just taken the pup out for her morning stroll.  100% and no poo today. Fed her too, so she's sorted for the day now!

~~~~~

Virgin Media are going to lose so many customers and those who stay with them will be downgrading their TV package because as of midnight tonight Virgin Media customers are going to be losing all their UKTV channels for things like W and Really and Drama and Dave and Yesterday - basically all the chanels we watch so we and Steve's family and hopefully many more will be downgrading their TV package and Virgin will lose money.

You can still see them on the UKTV site though so all is not lost entirely... just the TV channels are now viewed online is all.

Steve's just done something with our telly that connects our TV to the UKTV site though, so hopefully that means we can still see the programmes we want to see on the telly instead of having to use our laptops!

This isn't even the first time that Virgin have screwed up... the same thing happened a few years ago but we had more notice about it then!

Apparently we still don't get W or Alibi on the telly version which are the only channels we watch and Steve's part way through watching a series on both of those and I want to be able to watch Masterchef when the new series start too, so maybe we do have to watch them on our computers after all!  😔

Not good, Virgin Media, not good at all.  👎

~~~~~

Supplements taken now... had to crunch up the Multi for some bizarre reason though.  Total grossness  😞

Just testing if I can save a draft

Just trying out to see if it saves a draft or not... if it does, there only needs to be one long blog post a day instead of the 3 that I've already posted this morning!
___

I can, so I'll try and remember to do a maximum of two (one in the morning and one before bed) longer posts from now on!  Hopefully that'll be more interesting than reading a couple of sentences per post!

Virus scan started too

I'm liking Thunderbird more than Windows Live Mail because it reminded me to set the virus scan going - WLM never did!

It's at 26% already too, so hopefully it'll be finished by lunchtime tomorrow!

Hayfever pill and supplements taken

Just taken me hayfever pill and 3 supplements.  Got 15 days left of the Iron so I'm guessing it's around that many Calcium too, then I'll be opening up my last bottle, and thinking about ordering more pills to see me through another year.

150% and a poo this morning!

The pup was eager to go on her morning walkies this morning and I would have been happy to come home after 100% of the walk, but our little girl kept walking so I followed her lead and she squatted down for a poo at 125%.

She got her measurements just right because if the poo was literally a couple of centimetres further out I wouldn't have been able to pick it up, but like the responsible owner that I am, I took the bag off her lead and nervously picked it up without falling over which was a major accomplishment for me!

We finished off the last 25% then came home and I was rewarded with a steaming mug of coffee, so I poured the last bit of Mitzi's food into her bowl, washed me hands and came to sit down.

I'm not intending to go any further than the bathroom any more today!

Hayfever pill and supplements taken

Just taken me morning cocktail of pills and they all went down pretty easily this morning!

Hash browns for lunch at last!!

Steve's "later" is definitely at least a week 'cos he's been promising me hash browns for the last 7 days but we had them at lunchtime today, so I'm gonna try and remember to use the "later" comment next time Steve asks me to do something!

Just gotta remember to do it now!  lol

Supplements and hayfever pill taken

They all went down really easily today!  I'm bloated from all the squash and flavoured water I've already drunk today though!  lol

Does it sound weird to say that the Sainsbury's own brand of hayfever pills work better than all the brand name ones over the last 25ish years combined?  £1.50 for 14 pills and they stop my nose from running, my eyes from itching and the seemingly endless coughing I have when I don't take them!

They don't stop the hayfever totally but even that small amount of relief is worth it for those few hours I reckon.

Pup walked and fed

That's the pup sorted for the day, just gotta sort my own health out now with me 3 supplements and hayfever pill!

A longish vlog post about my daily cocktail of supplements

 

Just uploading a longish (approx 1 minute 15 seconds) video about my morning cocktail of supplements.

The URL I'm on about is this one and if you use my name (Amanda George) and email address (amanda.k.george@googlemail.com) as the referrer we both get a discount on your first and my next order from them!

I've been using them for about 19 or 20 years and wouldn't go anywhere else for my supplements now!

They cater for vegetarians, vegans, lactose intolerance, wheat intolerence and more besides... they've got little icon dooberries in the description of every supplement they sell so that you can see at a glance if it's right for you or not.  They are fantastic value for money too 'cos they do 180 pills or 360 pills in one container for the same price that you'd pay for 60 or 90 pills elsewhere.

I know that they sell to UK customers 'cos I'm a Brit, but I'm not sure about elsewhere in the world... if you're not a UK resident, maybe email them to see if they deliver to your country?

They've taken off the little images that were on there and they've really snazzed up the look of the bottles too... sleek and shimmery now instead of the ones I've got right now!

If you honestly need to lose a fair bit of weight, try the Acai Berry pills that they sell - I tried them in desperation when I came out of hospital a clothes size 28 which made me obese for my height.  I only needed one bottle but they shrank my stomach so that I couldn't eat as much as I had been without getting bloated which, in turn, helped to re-educate me about portion sizes too.  

I'm now size 16 because of my huge boobs but 12-14 around my waist... couldn't have managed to lose so much if it wasn't for the Acai Berry pills from Simply Supplements though.  I'd love to get back to my natural size 10 but I'm less than half the size I was in 2003 which I can only put down to the Acai Berry pills!

If you've got any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments bit of this blog post and I'll do my best to answer them for you!

Supplements and new hayfever pill swallowed

Just taken me 3 supplements and the first of the new hayfever pills that I bought 2 weeks ago.  No noticeable affect yet, but then that's nothing new... just a ploy by the manufacturers to get me to spend money on the placebo.

That's our little senior pup walked

The stroppy cow didn't want to go first thing and it wasn't until I came out of the bathroom that she decided she wanted her walk.

She's still got most of yesterday's food in her bowl, so I haven't fed her yet otherwise we'll be feeding her too much and she's supposed to be on a diet!

Steve wanted me to scan something for him this morning too which put me in an arsey mood to start with so I really could have done without Mitzi being stroppy with me this morning too.

👎

The pup's home again now... yaaaaay!

She's on more steroids to try and clear up the skin condition that she had when we first got her, drops for her right ear and she's had the first in a course of jabs because it's been so long since her last course of them.

That's it for 4 weeks now though, just gotta hope that the steroids don't make her ill, like the previous ones did.

The poor little pup is panting like mad right now, bless her!

Thank you so much for taking her and bringing her back the last few weeks, Marie!

2.5 hours early again

You'd think that a huge supermarket like Sainsbury's would be able to work out a better way to organise the grocery deliveries than to have one delivery literally at the end of our road then 6 more deliveries the other side of the city then have to come all the way back for us!

It's all sorted now though, Mitzi has just got to go back to the vet (hopefully this time) for her jabs with Marie then that's me able to go to bed for a rare, but genuinely early night!

Gonna take me prescription when Steve takes Mitzi up to the end of the road then I'll head to bed when the pup gets home at like 5.30pm or whatever.  Total aceness!

Supplements and last hayfever pill taken

Just taken me supplements and the last hayfever pill, so Steve's given me his box of hayfever pills now that we know it really is a cold, not hayfever.  They all went down OK this morning, thankfully!

Puppy walked and fed this morning

Almost forgot my morningly message about the pup being walked and fed!

My knees are killing me for some reason today so we only did 100% of the walk today... the pup wanted more but there is no way my knees could have kept me upright if we'd gone any further!

Supplements taken and a reason not to smile

Just taken me supplements, but when I smiled in the mirror I discovered deep wrinkles under my eyes.  I'm 40 years old and I'm getting wrinkles already!  It's all downhill from here!  lol

That's me done for the day now

Just taken out the second recycling box and cleared up Mitzi's poo from the back yard.

I'm totally done in now!

Gonna take me supplements then I'm not doing anything else for the rest of the day.

No arguements this week though, thankfully!

Senior pup walked, fed and watered

I was happy with the length of our usual walk but the pup kept walking so we did 150% this morning!  I think the pup wanted to do 200% but there's no way I could have stayed on my feet any longer than I did without falling over and not being able to get back up.

I fed and watered her when we came back home so she's all set for the day now.

Hayfever pill and supplements taken now

Just taken me cocktail of pills... later than I have done for the last week or so, but better late than never, right?  👍

Had some poor sod calling my mobile earlier on too.  "Just got 2 questions for you, is that OK?" says he.  "That's the first question" says me.  "It will only take a couple of minutes, alright?" continues he.  "That's the second question.  Goodbye" says me and I hung up on the poor bloke lol

We've stopped getting cold callers on the landline now after my survey questions to the cold callers, so word obviously spreads fast amongst them when they're being played at their own game lol

Senior pup walked and fed

Took her out as soon as I came downstairs this morning and she came to me straight away so I'm gonna try and remember to walk her before anything else every morning... maybe her bones ache later on or something?

Haven't taken me supplements or hayfever pill yet though... is it too late to take them now??

Hayfever pill and supplements taken

Just taken me morning cocktail of pills.  They all went down surprisingly easily this morning, thankfully!

150% this morning!

Took the pup for her morning stroll and I would have been happy with our normal 100% but the pup insisted on another half today so we did 150% and she was pondering on another 50% on top of the 150% but there's no way my legs would have held me up so we came inside.

Bless her little furry paws!

Pup walked, pills taken

Took the pup out for her walk this morning, hoping not to see a squished seagull or angry seagull parents.  There was a lot of squarking but that's not unusual 'cos they nest on the bus station's roof.  We didn't get attacked, thankfully and the pup behaved herself.

Just taken me 3 supplements and the hayfever pill.  The Iron disintegrated and the Multi took a couple of mouthfuls of squash to get washed down, but other than that everything went down fine this morning.

I can now get on with doing more surveys and hope I get to bed earlier tonight!

Jokes from a writing forum I'm with

Why did the can crusher quit his job? 
Because it was soda pressing.


What happens to a frog's car when it breaks down?
It gets toad away.


Knock-knock jokes are fun, the person who came up with them should definitely get a No-Bell prize.


My friend bought a dog from a Blacksmith.
As soon as he got it home, it made a bolt for the door.


On a beautiful summer’s day, two English tourists were driving through Wales.

At Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllllantysiliogogogoch they stopped for lunch and one of the tourists asked the waitress: “Before we order, I wonder if you could settle an argument for us. Can you pronounce where we are, very, very, very slowly?”

The girl leaned over and said: “Burrr… gurrr… King.”


Singing in the shower is all fun and games until you get shampoo in your mouth. Then it becomes a soap opera.


News: "Boy George's reptile bites 5 people in one day."

He needs a calmer chameleon.


What do you call an alligator that’s wearing a vest?
 
An investigator.


A lizard walks into a bar pushing a baby in a pram. "What's your kid's name?" asks the bartender. "Tiny," says the lizard. "Because he's my newt."


Knock. Knock

Who's there?

Panther.

Panther who?

Panther no pants, I'm goin' thwimmin'.


Andy has 150 candy bars. He eats 125. What does Andy have now?
Type 2 Diabetes. Andy has diabetes now.

I blame Steve's Facebook friends for this one! lol

That was, erm... interesting!

We've had another, slightly older, seagull come down in our back yard.

I spotted it and asked Steve to phone the RSPCA to come out and rescue it, like they did last time.  They refused to come out because they were too busy helping other stranded seagulls.  They told Steve to put a towel over it's head and take it out the front.

I suggested phoning the RSPB but they didn't have a local phone number on their site so Steve phoned the local council who gave him the number of the local pest control who gave the same advice as the RSPCA!

Sooo, we found a cardboard box with a lid and Steve went out to catch the seagull then I pushed the box through the house and opened the front door.

Gently tipped the box up and opened the flaps to let the poor seagull out then came back into the house and closed the door as fast as I could!

The seagull trotted off to the other side of the road like nothing had happened.

It's amazing what teamwork can achieve if you don't get support from any of the 4 places you contact even though it's their freakin' job!!

If it happens again, we know what to do now though - get the poor gull into a cardboard box, scoot it through the house and let it go!

Supplements and hayfever pill taken

All of 'em except the Multi went down fine this morning, but I'm now bloated with squash because I had to crunch the Multi up - such a gross flavour when I'm forced to do that!

Some people can be so rude!!

Got an email from an author last night, pretty much demanding that I review his book.

He asked 1 question (do you still review books?) and not a please or thank you in sight!  I ask that authors email me with the synopsis of their books first then if I'm interested I'll let them know.

This author emailed their book to me and included a shortened link to their books page.  I don't know about you, but I don't click on shortened links outside Twitter because they don't need to be shortened and could be a link to a virus!

I'll review the book, but it will just have to wait its turn until I've read the 5 other books I've already got waiting for me.  It takes 5 seconds to type 'please' and another 5 seconds to type 'thank you' but this author was so overly self confident that he forgot to be polite and follow instructions!

I'm doing you a favour after all, so you want to get on the good side of me!

That's SCBWI and Patrick paid for another year

Got the renewal notice for me SCBWI membership last night so I paid that and I've just paid for Patrick's insurance for another year too so that's the yearly things sorted and I just need to keep paying for Mitzi's insurance and the electric etc each month without needing to worry about where I'm gonna find £150 from now... I can just keep topping up my current account with £129 a month now just in case I'm not accepted for ESA in November.

If I'm not re-awarded ESA I'll apply for UC immediately and we'll have to scrape by on £229 PIP until June 2019 when I'll have precisely nothing coming into my account yet I'll still be expected to pay for the electricity, food and my own bills even though I'll have precisely no money in the bank!

If I'm not re-awarded ESA or UC then the Benefits Agency are definitely trying to kill off claimants 'cos there's no way *anyone* can survive on literally zero pounds and zero pence coming in!

8 years to the month since...

I last saw my mum in July 2010.

It's now July 2018.

That's 8 years since I last saw her.

The only reason I agreed to move so far away was that we saw her regularly.

We did go over semi-regularly for the first year or so after I moved here but I don't call 8 years since the last visit "regularly", do you?

Steve even promised that we'd go over and see her regularly after my father's funeral.

We've seen her once in the 8 years and a month since then.

You're nothing but a liar, are you Steve!

Hayfever pill and supplements taken

Just taken me hayfever pill and supplements without too many difficulties this morning.

Gonna put the Vaseline around my nose now 'cos the pollen count is already too high!

Puppy walked and fed

Just got back from taking our senior puppy out for her morning stroll.  She spotted a cat behind us and refused to walk for a few seconds though... total Westitude!  She's allowed to have Westitude occasionally though 'cos she's an old lady now who is usually a good girl, so I'll let her off the occasional grumpy moods lol.

22 years

I got my first mobile phone when I was 18.

I'm 40 now.

My first phone was pay as you go with O2.

My current phone is pay as you go with O2.

That's 22 years of being an O2 customer.

I've had a couple of contract phones in between but I've always had a SIM card with O2.

I've also got a contract with 3 right now but I haven't got a clue what the phone number is, I'm with that purely because of having unlimited internet on it just in case our home Wi-Fi goes down or I'm taken into hospital again.  If O2 offered unlimited internet I'd pay the rest of my contract with 3 and immediately set up a contract with O2.

There's nothing at all wrong with 3, I just know how things work with O2 and like their rewards is all.