Teetering on the brink

SuzeQStan

Excellent haul EB!  You are so lucky to have an Olio FWH close by to collect from.  Our nearest is 2.5 miles away.  Olio is also excellent for household items - I picked up 20ish gift bags last nite with RRP of approx £50 (some very fancy ones) for free so olio is for more than just food. It’s a great resource 😊👍🏻

DrunklMunkee

Ooooo-ooooh, I like this Olio shiny that you have bestowed upon us.

I am seeing a huuuu-uuuge chinese stir-fry with the sugar snaps, greens & 'shrooms. I would get the old wok out, bit of 5-spice & soy sauce, rustle up some noodles/rice & delve deep into the recesses of the freezer for an appropriate protein or boil some eggs - and I am happily celebrating the Chinese New Year along with the g&t that one of those lemons is crying out for.

Haha - I thought I had better put some context to me thinking about puppets, for those people that haven't been to D!sneyLand. There is a famous ride (which I think can be found at all their resorts) called - It's A Small World. It sounds very twee & happy - but if you go on it - it is really quite eerie. Loads of puppets, dressed in the national clothes of all the countries in the world, repeatedly singing "It's a small world, after all". 

I haven't really lost more sandwiches from my cerebral picnic, ..... although - if I were to introduce more characters from PhantasyPhorumLand, there would be.....

Tricky Spouse, often heard singing their own theme tune… “T-R-I….  C-K-Y…..  Ess-Po-You-Ess-Eee; Tricky Spouse”. Not many people like this character, because they’re a bit wrapped up in their own over-inflated self-importance.

Donald Truck - He is a gnarly old retired bank manager, spending his days sitting on his porch chomping on his corn-pipe and shouting at the kids to… “Get off my lawn!”. He is saving up to build a bigger fence to keep the rabbits out of his vegetable patch.

Win-a-Brella - often found at the Post Office buying stamps for the unusually large number of postcard entries they send across the globe

Toofy - this is the lovable half dog/half human character who has a predilection for licking your face just after eating the most smelliest kebab in all the kingdom. Despite the stinky breath, he is still the most faithful & lovable character and will always be found by your side.

Bleeping Tooty - This character is a bit naughty and has to have most of their lines bleeped out, as it is a bit blue for the kids. In the last episode, where a glass lid was smashed on the kitchen floor - the episode was rated 18 and can only be shown after the 9 o’clock watershed.

Fuzz Lightdrill - a particular favourite for all the kids in PhantasyPhorumLand - often heard shouting the catch-phrase…. “To a positive Net Worth, and BEYOND!”

I have even devised a theme tune & hoping that Ed Sheeran will sing it.

“Making your way in the world today, takes everything you got,

Getting away from all your worries - sure would help a lot. 

You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same.

In Phanta-see-eeePhorumLand,

Where all your friends are right on hand

You wanna be where no-one lays any blame…. “

But, APPARENTLY!!! My copyright lawyers tell me I have made 57 copyright infringements with the whole concept -so it looks like I will have to run off and come up with an original idea….

Oh hang on - my copyright lawyer tells me that because I have used the number 57 within a diary relating to beans, my copyright infringement quota has risen to 58, go figure!

EatingBeans

LOL Ok, so on reading that @DrunklMunkee I had to go off and google ‘It’s a small world’ at Disneyland and I watched the ride on youtube. OMG is that the most wacked up children’s ride ever! I am sure the design team who dreamt it up though, ooow how sweet would it be if we did …, but then they added the SINGING, and the heads that randomly swivel around! It’s like some sort of horror movie! I swear it would give me nightmares and I am not joking. I have a sensitive little brain and I don’t watch and horrors or over 18 films generally because my brain has a habit of mixing the plots with people from my real life and then returning them to me in my sleep. Having your kids abducted or chopped into pieces is really no fun at all, so I just don’t do it anymore. My kids laugh at me because they watch scarier things than I do. Though I am not as bad as my own mum who genuinely hid behind the sofa while watching the dinosaur nail tapping in the kitchen scene of Jurassic park! 🤣

Maybe we could just have a separate movie made about Fuzz Lightdrill instead?  I would defo watch that one. “To a positive Net worth and BEYOND!” 😁

EatingBeans

Another sale - £3.50 this time. That’s OVER half way to my next £5, or will be once it is in my account! Whoop whoop! 😁

~FlowerPot~

Oh well done. I think these small£5 amount are really motivating because they are achievable!
You are doing so well

ellenvan

Maybe just an idea as you are doing so well at the £5 , you could try it on other things,

i.e. list 5 things in a day to sell

enter 5 competitions a day

review 5 expenditures

5 Olio/ Good to go collections in a week/fortnight

Collect 5 coins around the house to bank

 etc as you wish

EatingBeans

Ok, tough day today. I almost caved with the takeaways. I mean so much so I actually suggested it to dd1, but I have been so anti takeaway lately that it either didn’t register, or she thought I was joking, or she pretended she didn’t hear or something. Anyway, whilst I was ready to cave, I wasn’t quite at the fighting for one stage, so I took it as a sign and just microwaved some curry and rice I had cooked and frozen earlier, and called it dinner. 

The reality was the only reason I wanted a takeaway is because of EDF and their inability to just set up a direct debit! Or should I say, they set up a direct debit, try and use the old one, tell me they are too busy to talk on the phone so please text, long drawn out (all day today) text conversation later, I get told I have to call, call but get put on hold forever, then get through and the line is so bad I only catch every other word, but I get enough for her to confirm they already have the new account details, great I say because I am in the process of switching bank accounts tomorrow and I didn’t want it to mess that up, she then cuts me off, I call back to find out that the previous lady has set up a new direct debit which will have auto cancelled the existing one, potentially meaning I now only have one direct debit on the account at time of switch so I will very possibly miss out on the £175! I pay the amount due only to be told “not to worry” because they will try to stop the payment being requested again from the new account, !!!!!!? Good luck I said because the new account will become the old account as of tomorrow, see earlier conversation about the switch, and since you’ve now set up the direct debit on the eve of the transfer day your direct debit will not transfer to the new account so that dd will bounce back too. Meaning, joy of joys, I will probably have to call again next month and manually set up the #$%! direct debit on the new account, do not pass go, do not collect £175! Don’t worry she says, the bill is generated on the 16th and the direct debit only needs 14days to activate on their system. I wished her a good evening and put the phone down in a very calm manner, with a (albeit gritted teeth) smile. Promise. They are just people doing their jobs. I could tell she meant well. 

Maybe, just maybe, I might also be just feeling a little stressy as it’s nearly the 6th Feb (the day my MBNA limit is due to be increased). Still no news to confirm either way, although I think in this case, no news is good news right? I know the extra bit of credit space is not going to really make it all better, I think it is more psychological. If they let it go through, then I am still deemed as “ok”, if they don’t, then even the account that has been my best pal through all my hard times up to now, will no longer believe in me, making it harder to believe in myself. I know how insane that sounds, it is just an algorithm based on risk and how much money they can make out of me, but I just hate the thought that people think I am not good for the money (Even if the reality is I am currently paddling upstream in gale force winds with only one broken paddle, a hole in my boat and just a thimble for emptying it atm!). It’s the principle ok?!

Or, maybe it is the thought of having to show a perfect stranger to my bathroom tomorrow that is stressing me out? (The boiler is due for a service and it is housed in a cupboard in my very broken bathroom). Now, I should be celebrating the fact that this is an expense that I have planned for and the money is already just sitting in the account, but all I can think about is how the bathroom is such an embarrassment. It is one thing showing you wonderful people using words on a page, but an actual irl person, oh god please no. I just have to remember that he really doesn’t care so long as he can get on with his job right? And even if he does judge, he’s a complete stranger who I will likely never meet again. I am trying to think positively I promise!

So, maybe the list 5 things is a good idea. Just maybe not starting today. 😅

EatingBeans

Ok, so maybe I should just admit that a lot of the EDF pain was self inflicted. I should have just let them take the money from the wrong account and moved the money. But that would make it my fault. It’s more comfortable to believe it’s EDF’s silly systems…

Maybe I am just a teeny bit to blame. 😞

ellen_vannin

Sounds like you have had a rubbish day.
Upward and onwards tomorrow.
We're all still here and believe you can do it.
Just get through things a day at a time.
Maybe a bar of chocolate as a reward tomorrow evening.
Glad you didn't cave and get a takeaway!
And yes sure the plumber doesn't care about your bathroom, he's just thinking like you about getting through the day .

ellen_vannin

Maybe have a couple extra direct debits next time as a safety net.
Lot's of charities accept from £2 a month. Or pay a small subscription for a magazine by direct debit 
 You can always cancel once you have the incentive.