Red Mosquito’s Neighborhood

Car number 2 is due it's MOT. I'm currently sleeping for night shifts. Oh no wait, no I'm not. I'm in our local Kwik Fit waiting for our car to be passed or failed. Turns out the previous owners bought the car and registered it in a period of the year when no bloody garages are open, or none of them are taking on work. Thankfully, due to both of us working and to my daft shifts, we are fortunate enough to have a second car (read: old banger) to get us about while I couldn't drive the main one because it wouldn't be legal. That's a laugh in itself. Because of this albeit minor inconvenience I looked into what MOT's are really about. For those not in the UK, an MOT (Ministry of Transport) certificate is basically a yearly roadworthiness test on any car 3 years or older.

What I read astounded me.

The MOT checks the roadworthiness of your car ON THE DAY it was tested. The reason our government wants you to have MOTs is to ensure car safety. This loosely translates to being yet another tax on us, the working people, who are taxed in this country already up to the hilt. On a car, we pay an initial road fund licence when bought new. We pay a yearly road tax, which allegedly goes to the upkeep of the UK's roadways and motorways, but I happen to know that most of our motorways tarmac is way past it's use-by date. We pay a tax on petrol, then on top of that we pay VAT on the petrol AND the tax. We also pay insurance tax. Incredible.

The most annoying thing is the MOT has to be done yearly to ensure you are keeping your car defect-free, yet the MOT only covers the day you took it in to be tested. So whether or not you have a valid MOT certificate, your car may well develop a defect an hour, day, week, month, whatever after you had it tested so your MOT is invalid!! The real kicker is that insurance companies (the second most corrupt organization in the UK after the police) won't pay out if you don't have an MOT, and the fuzz give you a 60 quid fine if they catch you without one. Road Tax and MOTs are just government earners. Insurance, while I believe is far overpriced, is a necessity and one I fully believe we should have and should come down hard on those who don't.

Mind you, without Road Tax and MOT where else would this group of clowns running the country claw back the huge financial deficit we find ourselves with. Breathing tax?

Here endeth today's rant. Other than being very tired and grumpy I'm in a very good mood :)

So, it's a new year. Yay. God knows last year kinda sucked in lots of ways. For those of you who have been reading my blog you know that already.

 I had a major health scare right at the end of 2009. I found out two days before Christmas that I am in fact NOT dying. This makes me VERY happy.

So, New Years Resolutions...I decided this year not to make any. At least not REAL resolutions.

I resolve to:

Take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide.
Put things on counters and shelves.
Shower.
Wear clothes.
Feed my pets.

See? Easy. No fail resolutions.

Sure, there are things I would LIKE to do to make my life easier and happier.

I would LIKE to train for a marathon or a half marathon.
I would LIKE to quit smoking for good.
I would LIKE to drop about 30 pounds.
I would LIKE to completely declutter my house of all of the JUNK that we have.

It seems like I make the same resolutions every year and by February it's all out the window. Then I beat myself up and say mean things to myself. So this year I'm just not doing it.

It's really counterproductive.

So this year I'm just rolling with the punches, and trying to live a good and happy life. Whatever happens happens. Whatever doesn't doesn't. That's that.

So what are you guys doing for the new year?

Have you ever had a dream that you're in your house, or a house you used to live in, and you suddenly find a brand new door that you never saw before?

Well I've lived in this apartment for a few months now, and one problem is the lack of storage. Especially in the bathroom. I could really use a place to keep towels, sheets, or anything really. Well guess what Baldy suddenly found today?

He's never taken a dump in this apartment, but he did today. And from the new vantage point, he suddenly saw something strange. Something that looked suspiciously like a door to a closet! He opened it, to find a big empty closet.

"I opened the door, and I saw the empty closet, and I thought either you didn't know about this because you obviously need extra storage (indicating all the stuff everywhere I've somehow accumulated since moving out of the capsule), or for some reason you just chose not to put anything in it."

Then we laughed and laughed like idiots. I couldn't fucking believe it. I just never saw the closet! It's really hard to see and it just looks like part of the wall. It's big enough for someone to hide in. I can think of lots of tricks I can pull on people. Like Baldy can hide in it, I'll bring a friend over, say I have to go to the loo, then I'll hide in the closet, and he'll go out and pretend like nothing happened and freak my friend out.

I made a new discovery in a mundane place. Like a little bit of magic.

Some film prints taken with my Holga 120N in Tarpon Springs, FL (Sponge Docks). Greek fishing community...lots of boats, gift shops and great Greek foods.

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2009 was quite a year. For me at least, it was a year of adjustment. In January, I had to go back to work and although I was lucky enough to go back 2 days in the office and three at home, it was quite an adjustment for me to split my attention the way working mom's must. Adjusting to motherhood was a surprise. I naively thought that once I had Drew everything would magically fall into place. I wanted him. I tried for him, how could I NOT be ready to be his mother. Well as ready as I was to be Drew's mom, I was not prepared to be his primary care giver. It never occurred to me that though Andrew is very much a part of his life, let's face it, he works in the city, and is away from the house more than he is here. Drew's care falls on me. I also was not prepared to always have a piece of my mind at home. What is he doing? It's 11, is he sleeping? Is he having lunch? Did he eat well? Questions for every second I am away fill my mind. And for me, it was rough to adjust to that guilt. The guilt of not being the one to take care of him 24/7 and the guilt for enjoying my time in the car alone or at work. 

Dear 2009:

Here's my Purple Dress of Flattery.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

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Yesterday my kid scolded me for swearing too much.

Specifically my use of the terms "fuck" and "motherfuck".

I told him it was the only way I could make the pieces fit together*.

He told me I sounded horrible, so I said I'd say them in my head instead.

Then he told me, "Well, at least stop yelling it. Under your breath is okay, but yelling it gets annoying."

Oh. Okay. (oops)

*We were putting a couple of bookcases together from Ikea. It's harder than it looks.