Going. Going. Gone... Forever!

And I thought I was good at doing stuff 'online'... isn't the whole thing about doing stuff 'online' is to speed things up and to reduce the need for printing paper resources? Well, it sure isn't quick. I have been on the DVLA website for the last hour... (an hour of my life I'll never see again). The first twenty minutes was spent inputting information which the DVLA already have on their database. The remaining forty minutes was spent righting all the errors the 'online' form had asked me to confirm as correct... all the while telling me that presenting false information is a crime.

All I wanted to do was tell them I have moved house! The DVLA website said it would be quicker to do it online. But now for the punch line... I have to go and buy some stamps. Yes that's right. After doing it online I have had to print off the confirmation sheet so I can sign it and post it to them. I'm certain I could have just done that in the first place. About one hour ago...

Lights, camera, reaction...

£1.21 for a litre of fuel! That is outrageous... but the fuel companies are blaming the rising cost of crude oil. That was this morning. Following daylight robbery at the fuel pump, I drove past a speed camera while doing 33mph in a 30mph zone.

I didn't see it blink at me but I have a sinking feeling that I'll be getting a letter through the post in the next few days... How annoying? How very annoying?

Electioneering equals boring...

I would describe myself as fairly well informed and actually quite a little bit interested in politics. Even more so now with the election being only ten days away. But I am bored of the politic debate... it has become a very negative campaign with two out of the three mainstream leaders now knocking the others' policies rather than championing their own. When they aren't doing this, they are saying very little of anything of any substance. The third, who I think will do the best job needs to take the gloves off a bit more and join in. And I don't mean Clegg here...

With ten days left and the 'polls' seemingly 'level' (depending which poll you read)... the bookies are laying odds on a hung parliament... which I think would be bad. If the polls are to be believed, we could end up with a Prime Minister that over 70% of the population doesn't want.

What happened to 'old style' campaigning? I haven't seen a single candidate campaigning for anything.... apart from on TV. I didn't even know what my MP looked like until he got collared in the expenses shakedown last year.

I think the next parliament is going to be hard... and whoever wins this election, won't win the next. People seem to have very short memories when it comes to 'who caused the political mess'...

As for myself; I already know who I'll be voting for next week. And his name doesn't even appear on the voting forms... I'll be voting for me. The press keep talking about the 'floating' voters but what about the 'selfish' ones? I have always voted the same way, I agree with the party policies, but that aside, whoever gets this 'victory' in the election it is going to be a difficult term, so whichever party does me the biggest favour gets my vote. And if that makes me selfish then so be it...

Soundtrack of my day...

With little or nothing to do today... and not wanting boredom to strike. I am having my own 'mini' festival courtesy of the hard drive. Haven't decided on the headline act but the support acts are fantastic. Korn currently playing... 'Got the life'...

James Bond drives a bus...

A bit random I know (for the heading), but random is the future... with filming of 'Bond 23' being stopped due to 'money troubles' at MGM, I saw a bus with '007' on it this morning. Times are hard. I would have have taken a picture with my phone, but I didn't because I was driving... and that would have been illegal. And I didn't want to put the crime statistics up. Would it have been illegal to take a picture with a camera?

It's the marathon on Sunday and I know a few people who are doing it. I should have been but my entry wasn't accepted. I haven't decided if this was a good thing or not yet... I did want to do it and I'll apply again next year, but my body has never been subjected to anything like that before and after recently moving house, the training as been far from regimental. I'll content myself by watching it on TV with maybe a nice glass of something cold contemplating what could have been...

And happy St. George's Day to you...

Nothing very interesting...

Just not feeling 'it' today. Whatever 'it' is... it appears to be absent today. It's a shame really because the weekend was really rather pleasant. Perhaps it's the music I am listening to at the moment that is deflating my mood... so with nothing else to do I thought I would add something to this blog. (Actually, I do have stuff to do but nothing too pressing...)

A great weekend was had, managed to catch up with a few friends and didn't with others; (the 'others' are stuck in Cyprus due to a volcano in Iceland, the country not the shop!) The weather was perfect! With ash grounding all the planes, (We have chosen to live between four decent sized airports)... the sky has been a brilliant blue with hardly a cloud in it. Just gorgeous. I could have taken a picture but it would have been just blue. Looking out the window, I think it will be more of the same today. It is lovely here in the summer. Perched in a village on the edge of the Chiltern Hills...

So for today... improve my mood. I am not often this 'low'... using that word carefully. Just not as bouncy as I am normally... that's all. Perhaps a coffee will help? Anyway, the jobs I was putting off a little... do some bits in the garden. Herb patch and a French drain... then some mowing and later look for a job.

On the job front, I applied for a position on Friday which would suit my situation perfectly for the next 12 months. Fingers crossed hey?! But that is only one of many... more later.

Been informed this morning that some new furniture will be arriving this week. Joy! There is something quite relaxing about putting new bits of stuff together. Very relaxing indeed.

Anyway, I need to crack on... stuff to do. But first that coffee...

So what do I know anyway?

Well the Grand National didn't quite go to plan. King John's Castle refused to start, Mon Mome fell at the 26th fence and Character Building finished 7th... but at least they all live to fight another day! And so will I... my tips for the five domestic Classics will appear shortly...

If none of my selections were going to win (which they didn't), I couldn't think of any more fitting victors than AP, JP and Jonjo. Richly deserved.

The time has come...

So the time has come has it? According to our Prime Minister it has. Funny how the 'worst' kept secret in politics was made official and we are now headed toward a general election. Announced on a day when the weather really felt like it changed for the better...

Does Gordon quietly think that it's time to get rid of this 'shower'?

So the time has come for what exactly? Four weeks of campaigning and what will it all come to? Whoever gets elected will have a hell of a job sorting out the mess Gordon as managed...

Whoever is elected, there is one thing I'm betting on... it's gonna be tough folks! And personally I think it needs to be.

The problems have been identified, (the list is endless). Now someone needs to find the solutions. That's what this election will be about. More so than in any election I have seen before... so you 'pays your money and takes your chance'.

Which brings me onto other things... 'The Greatest Horse Race of the Year' takes place on Saturday... The Grand National. I disagree with this often quoted 'fact' but that's by the by...

Of the forty runners that will go to post, I have strong fancies for a few. (To be refined further over the next few days...), they are as follows...

Mon Mome - last years winner. Ran a cracker at Cheltenham but worried about the weight but records are there to be broken, right?

King John's Castle - second two years ago but partnered with a jockey who has already tasted victory in the race. The horse needs to produce the form of two years ago but wouldn't shock me if it did...

Character Building - won the Kim Muir in 2009 at the Festival. Top trainer. Top horse. And there is always a story that comes out of the national and this could just be it. Character Building has new owners and only a few days before the race. These same owners bought a horse previously to run in the race; in 1992, an election year. That time three days before the race. The horse was called Party Politics and it won...

With the election being announced today and their previous winner being called Party Politics... a fancied runner (of mine) being owned by the same people who have once again bought it just prior to the 'greatest' race of the year. Could the stars be aligning? (This would also be the first grey to win for fifty years and the first ridden by a woman).

Like I mentioned earlier... this race always throws up a story and Character Building could be it. I hope so... maybe the runners in the race mentioned at the start of this blog will note the name. Character 'Building' not Charcter 'Destroying'... play fair, be nice and sort this mess out.

Two out of three ain't bad...

Well the bank holiday weekend arrived and I got to go racing. I didn't win anything. And the last horse I put money on was not looking all that clever as the vet put the screen up... it was at this point, I left for home...

But at least the rain stayed away... there done it! (You can't have a bank holiday without mentioning the weather).

And Cambridge won the boat race. And they won it well. Lovely!

So there, two out three ain't bad. If only I could have won some money...

Can it really be summer?

It seems that it has finally arrived! It did last Sunday (according to the calendar); so time for some decent weather and I don't care if it does rain every now and again. At least it has finally started to get warmer.

Winter seems to have gone on forever. It didn't, it just seemed as though it did. Here in the UK, we only have two seasons now; summer and winter. Summer lasts for three months...

So now the sun is starting to put in an appearance on a regular basis... my (already good) mood, like the weather, is set to get better. And it will further get better if three things happen on Saturday...

1. The rain stays away from the field I'll be standing in watching some horses' race... love horse racing.

2. Some of the aforementioned horses win with my money on them... love a little flutter.

3. Cambridge win the boat race... you have to be light blue or dark blue. And in this house, it's light blue. I used to row on and off with a guy who won the boat race with Cambridge, (he lost twice too). But once you've nailed your colours to the mast, you can't change can you? And if ever you get the choice as to whether to visit Oxford or Cambridge. Go to Cambridge... it is way, way prettier.