Are you newly affluent like me?

Today's post has been highly influenced by this one.
Go read it - go on - click the link and then come back. I'll be here waiting.
http://batsby.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/a-touch-of-class.html


Read it? Welcome back.
It's his best post so far!
So like he instructed - I took the test found on the BBC News website.

This is what I am .

According to the official and therefore it must be true test, I am newly affluent?! You what? It sounds like a hideous disease.

I am NOT averagely aged at 44 - cheeky bar stewards. Eternally 28 me.

Apparently I am sociable -   I am - lots of friends!! But also I lean towards hermitdom.

I  have lots of cultural interests ( like what Mr Test? )  and sit in the middle of all the groups in terms of wealth:I am sitting in the middle of a messy bedroom scrabbling stuff together to sell at the CarBoot because I have NOT ENOUGH WEALTH.

So I truly pity the poor buggers either side of me - if the ones just above are judged 'wealthy' in monetary terms, the rich haven't as much money as I thought and the poverty stricken ones to the other -  is anyone REEEALLY poverty stricken in this country? I class the families living in tin shacks on the Comic Relief videos as poverty stricken. I don't class people who spend all their money on drink and drugs who then have no money left to heat their homes as poverty stricken. They had the money in the first place. Choices people.

 Ok, we pay  do the mortgage and feed ourselves. All the bills are covered. But that's it. Not much to spare. Unlike many of the hyenas and their offspring at school, we do not go on holiday abroad at least once a year. ( I CHOOSE to holiday in the Great British Isles because I love it here. ) But it is a struggle to find the money for it. It's only thanks to being made redundant we finally got with it and have a shiny new flat screen TV, that these non working parents and series of 'uncles'  have had for years. All the children seemed to have got Laptops and Tablets this year and that's as young as the seven year olds! I was erm 28 when we got our laptop!

 Umm ok I am lucky compared to some. I am wealthy in other means - I was supported by two hardworking parents  who had very little money but I  had a good childhood which in turn has led me to be a successful parent I think! Girl child at Uni, boy child on way to Sixth Form. I'm digressing now - what IS enough wealth? Apparently £53 according to a lot of tweets  right now- or not - depending on which side of the fence you sit.

"This youthful class group" is economically secure, without being well off - well the first bit is true. The last bit is a downright lie! Who the hell is secure these days?? We are always being told at work that money is tight. So I suppose security lasts for a month at a time in my house.

Anyway my Beloved Nanna taught me it was vulgar to discuss money and make personal remarks. So I will stop it!


I suppose I do have  high scores for emerging culture, such as watching sport, going to gigs and using social media - without it I'd be Batsbyless!  Emerging culture???? What numpty dreamt that phrase up?? Sport = the rugby. F1 and the Wimbledon men's final. Social media - well here I am! I am hooked on Twitter. Watching the above on TV is massively enhamced by it and the Olympics Opening ceremony was amazing! Of course I only follow highly entertaining people - which makes it! Facebook saved my life a few years ago as gave me something else to numb my brain with. yes, I played farmville. Planting cartoon carrots, asking people to send me cartoon nails to fix the cartoon shed roof . Also FB has put me back in touch with so many old chums and new friendships have been forged. Sure, there's enough cranks on there to sink a ship, but that is what the block button is for. At the moment - I barely go on because of the way they changed the layout and it's full of mindless " Like if you love your kids" memes. EEEEERRRRRGH I hate that word. Meme. Who the blinking flip made that  one up too?

And Gigs. I would sell a kidney to go to a gig. I would sell the HG's kidney to go to a gig. If you are standing next to me at the bus stop, guard your kidneys. I have no qualms about using yours to pay for my gig habit. I know how to safely extract one. I watched it on the NHS programme on BBC 2. I can do it quite safely via keyhole surgery.

Seriously we decided that as things were tight ( see above) we would remain gigless for this year - and that includes my ultimate favourite band on Earth, Muse, who are touring and also The Killers. Old habits die hard and I was on the laptop the minutes they went on sale and for both gigs I had the tickets in my basket. The HG was no help. No willpower at all as he helpfully said,
"It's up to you dear."

Arrrgh I am a gig addict. It took a lot of steely determination to close the window and give up the tickets. Those tickets are like gold dust and I just let them go. *sobs*
They were a lot of money. We have a child at Uni who we are supporting. What if she needed us and we couldn't go becuase I'd spent the petrol money on a Muse ticket? ( On my shoulder the little devil was saying she'll be ok! ) So we are not going. I have my memories and photos of the last time I saw them. but the buzz and the adrenaline is so pulling! I have even not gone to see the very funny Josh Widdecome who played the theatre in town. ( OOh see I DO go to the theatre! ) Last time was to see Jenny Eclair!  She was hilarious!
( I have been searching for Muse tickets  everytime I go online a few times since! But I've never bought any. ) *sigh*
Giving up gigs is as hard as giving up crisps. Five weeks three days now in case anyone is keeping tabs.

"I do not tend to participate in highbrow culture, such as classical music and theatre" - no because it's poncy!! Except Grease the musical was top class! Does that count? I do own several Andrea Boccelli CDS. Also Jenny Eclair.

"People in this group are likely to come from a working class background" <<<< tru dat.

Many people in this group live in old manufacturing centres of the UK in the Midlands and North West

Again - it's almost as if they monitored my IP address and tailored it for me ergo I believe it all!

Now then as for the REAL class system devised by Mr B - I still maintain that I want to eat Swans. When will I be a Lucky f*cker? ( You must read the blog link above to understand this sentence! ) Warning - it contains the full version of the eff word! )


It's all a load of ball cocks anyway! As the late great Gloria Gaynor sang
I am what I am. What about you? 

Post 202 - your requests!

Hey bloggy chums,
 Another post  - it's only post 202!

Again thank you for reading - I have gone over the 10k mark!! That's bonkers!

Also thank you for the lovely heartfelt comments on my last  post. I never speak of what happened, only to a few. I lay in the wee small hours  of the 17th and the words just popped into my head, so I quickly scribbled them down. You know ( fellow bloggers ) how those words then need out. So I shared them with another, then I felt brave enough to go public. I am sure it's all part of some crazy healy thing but I did it. I DIDN'T post it for a mass outpouring of sympathy -  it was never intended for that and that is what I shy away from THE LOOK, telling people can get you,but the comments I have had ,ARE comforting and I   do hold them  dear in my heart.So  Thank You, for taking the time to read and to comment xxx you know who you are xxx

So your requests for my next post. An odd mixture - but here goes....

Dear Frugalmummy, ( go read her blog folks, it's awesome! )
Re Christmas Preparations...

When my children were small, I would begin my Christmas shopping for them in January. I would squirrel away bargain finds all year, NEVER spending full price on their toys and clothes. They never knew. In fact I think I'd be hard pressed to think of something they ever had that I paid full price for!

Fast forward to the present day, I still hunt for gifts as and when for my little nephews and nieces, however, as I've lost brain power over the years, I forget that I've got things and find them after the event - so they get them for birthdays etc! Last year, I knit Lisa's Madeleine a stripey jumper and a matching one for her dolly!

 

 

This year, I have not had much time to think about Christmas so far, apart from reading your blog FM!  Pesky 'full time' work gets in the way!

Because the teenagers are just that, presents have been half sorted in the way that she got new Fencing gear and he has got a new road racing bicycle ( NB I am not happy about this new hobby that will surely end in tragedy ) I hate that I don't have to send things to Father Christmas anymore the same way.

Cards are already bought, in fact thanks to my careful January sales shopping over the years, I have not needed to buy any for three years and I think I still have a good couple of years left! I'd love to make my own, and have amassed a bit of crafty stuff, but reality is I haven't got time to squeeze in an extra hobby!. I have completely cut down on who we send cards to too.  I wasn't organised enough to write my cards for Yorkshire as requested by my Ma In Law - she's gone over on a visit this week - another christmassy fail!!

I have a joint of pork and a joint of beef in the freezer - bought when they were 'whoopsed.' I have a jar of cheap as chips mince meat ready to spruce up to luxury homemade with the addition on alcohol and apple. I have marzipan. bought dirt cheap to put in some mince pies. I've even bought some ready made pastry when they were selling it off for quickness at Christmas! I will get more and more excited as it gets nearer, as I put my tree up. After having a frugally bought half price black artificial one for years I have mentioned I'd quite like a real one this year..... but common sense and the purse strings will prevail no doubt! I may even, for the sake of frugalness NOT buy another bauble this year. ( Even though I have seen THE most exquisitely darling purple and silver glass ball!)

 

Dear Chippy Chin Off Twitter,

Re The NHS...

 

What can I say. It has looked after me well for the most part. It employs a lot of my friends. Because it's there we don't think about it.

I cannot fault it. It's the same as business I think, because the smallies who make it work and actually matter the most ( And I don't mean this a a derogatory name ) as the most dedicated team on earth. It's the big wigs who are paid the most, who sit on their thrones in their offices dictating rules about something they in REAL part know nothing about. Most people would say the NHS is in rapid decline. This is undoubtedly due to cutbacks. Not cutbacks in the 'high up' 'high falluting' managers and their PRs dept, but cut backs on the shop floor where life and death is taking part and where it really actually matters. Good Old Florence Nightingale harped on about cleanliness and it's importance. My mum will tell of the days of scary matrons who inspected their own  wards and each ward had a band of cleaners who worked round the clock. Now one poor cleaner will have lots of wards to do, in not much time and for not much money. Indeed, when my darling Nanna was in hospital, there was blood spots on the floor ( not even hers ) for three days. I was monitoring it. I watched, in that elderly unit, as two nurses tried their best to manage 16 beds split into two wards. These patients were desperately needy. One frail,elderly gentleman, clearly suffering from dementia would take to wandering about. When he was found he would resist the nurses ( female ) and they would struggle to return him to bed. I am not being sexist, but he was a big man and strong. Those nurses were tiny. They shouted at him. He was a danger to himself  they said he's already fallen and banged his head. They used to have chairs where patients could sit in front of the nurses station - with carefully tipped seats and a table attatched making it harder for them to get out. But this, apparently, abuses their human rights and  these safety seats are now outlawed. If that was my Grandad, I'm pretty sure I'd prefer him to be in a tipped seat in full view of the nurses desk, rather than wandering around and falling and breaking his hip/fracturing his skull/scaring/upsetting other partients etc. A nurse who worked with the elderly told me this. If I am not right, then do let me know.

 

Last year, when I was gravely ill, I believe I was mixed up in a great big waiting list fiasco - meaning that scans and tests I was due for came late - or myself had to chase up. Now I am aware, that the outcome could have been very different and you would be having one less blog to read. Once I was in the right care path on the whole I was looked after very well. Mainly by the nurses again. I did not have any worries about how I was going to pay for this treatment and tests. We do have to pay for prescriptions - but if you need medication for life threatening illness - this is free.

 

I think that the main differences between UK and USA  ( and to be honest I am basing most of this on documentaries and ER !! ) is that because you pay in the USA they work backwards from worse case scenario. So, in the  USA present with a headache, get MRI/CAT scan to rule out brain tumour etc then get tablets for headache.

But in the UK - get tablets for headache, come back in a month. 12 months down the line get sent to check for brain tumour - when it's too late. That is my opinion.

Indeed, when Lisa first took Harry with her concerns about his rolling eyes and his apparently unseeing unfocussing eyes at 8 weeks old she was STILL sent away to 'wait and see' for two weeks. I lay awake some nights thinking what if Id have made her take him to A&E that day when I noticed it. What if they made her wait longer. Would the outcome have been much different - we'll never know. What I do know is that once diagnosis was suspected and confirmed, Harry was treated at lightening speed and really we cannot fault the NHS at all. There are children being flown in from all over the world to Birmingham for treatment. Which is confusing because I know of at least three cases of children over here currently raising money - a LOT of money - like £500,000 to fly to America to get treatment that isn't available here.

But I feel awful when I see on twitter etc that my US chums are in a dilemma about going to see a medic because of the cost and what will happen to their medical insurance. For even minor things.  Now I DO want to live in America - but admit the NHS is a BIG bonus of the UK!

 

Dear Jane and Chris,

 Re Poutine...

At first I was going to say you put your lips together and lower your chin and look up through heavily lidded eyes. Then I read your comment again!

 

Then I guessed it was something to do with putting goosefat on a chest to ward off a cold but no....

 

If my googling is correct I will say that

 

Poutine is actually available here, but under a different name. It is mainly used by a certain demographic after a particularly good night out where lots of alcohol has been consumed.Indeed it is something consumed but not a liquid. It's origins are not water based.  I have partaken of this but only in part. I am fairly sure it is not one of your 5 a day and too much would definitely be a bad thing. That is all. If I say anymore I think I will fail your challenge! How did I do???!!

 

 

Dear Amanda ,

Re Education....

 

I think you know that Education is something quite close to my heart! Seeing as being part of it pays my wages! I hate the way things are changed by people who have NO IDEA what goes on in the classroom, every single day. The way they expect more and more, but  by taking more and more taking money away, these expectations are unrealistic. It's also demoralising. The way some parents bring up their children is outrageous. I have written about my 'bowl of soup kids' before.  Each year I want to bring more and more children home, give them a hot bath, delouse them, wrap them in soft fluffy towels, give them homemade bread  and a bowl of soup in front of my warm fire and read them a bedtime story. ( I could swear I heard Hovis music in the back ground whilst I typed that last sentence!)

 

 

**** News just in*****

 

She survived the first few weeks. She looks exactly the same and everything!!

The daughter came home from Uni. Without any dirty washing. She is very popular. We were hard pressed to fit into her tight social calendar! We enjoyed three hours of her Friday night after she got here. This consisted of me Spanish inquisition style firing twentygadzillion questions at her about her new exciting life in Newcastle. She sat on the HG's knee ( always was a Daddy's girl)  and gave me the bare minimum answers she could get away with ,as she was glued to the TV. " I haven't watched any telly for five weeks Mum!" was her explanation! She then went to bed. The lure of her freshly laundered everything,- quilts, sheets and PILLOWS too ( I love my new black shinies - see about five posts back! ) , must have been too much to resist.

 

On Saturday, we went out shopping  - though as it's #FQstoptober I hardly spent anything at all. We went out for a late lunch and on getting home she promptly got ready to go out! She stayed out at her friend's house, came home briefly this morning to change and has now buggered off out with the beau. I call him this to wind her up! Muuwahahahaaa! I am not sure what time she is back. She is staying at home tonight and her train is early in the morning. It's been fabulous to have her home. My house felt all complete on Friday night and it felt like it was smiley.  It won't be long til Christmas at all, when she will be back for a few weeks. I can't wait. TREE UP AND MY DAUGHTER BACK!!

 

So here was Blog post 202.  It is very long and rambly - my fingers ache from the typing! I've just joined a BlogsRus Facebook page. I am so chuffed to little bits that Donna from Mummybird chose to invite me! So if you land here via that group please do say hello. I'm going to try and faff about with this google+ thingy wotsit. And goooglefriends - please come follow - there's only two in my little box thingy down there \/ and one of them is ME!

 

Till the next post - cheerio petals xx