Come join me in my quest to live a happier more frugal way of life, while enjoying the more traditional family values.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

All I Wanted Was Some Bleeding Petrol

Well it,s getting nearer and nearer to Christmas Day and I am still not feeling that seasonal rush I normally get. My Son phoned last night, and was a bit hedgy about what we should do for Christmas Dinner as there are only going to be his family and ours. I got the feeling that Lunch at our place which is the current plan, was not going to be interesting enough for my Granddaughter as her Cousins are not going to be there, and she will have nobody to play with. But if we went to my son,s house she would have neighbourhood kids to keep her occupied. I can see where they are coming from, but I can,t help but feel slighted, and don,t know if I am happy about changing all my arrangements mid-stream. If I dont watch what I,m doing here I could have a very lonely Christmas.
Part of the reason for me feeling this way is work, we are just so busy that we will be lucky to get out the place alive any time before midnight Christmas Eve. Add to that the fact that I have extremely sore knees just now, I have a little Osteoarthritis and think it may have gone into my knee joints, and the pain is really bad and nothing seems to be working, so I,m getting little relieve and almost no sleep.

My Aussie picture needs no explanation, it is pretty stereo typically Aussie. There is a Christmas song out just now about the Kangaroos who pull Santas sledge, but for me I prefer The Reindeer.
The Scottish picture reminds me of the nights when Mum and Dad would take us into Glasgow to see the lights, in those days in Scotland nobody decorated the outsides of their houses, and so we relied on our Capitol cities to put on a light show. And what an occasion to get all rugged up and taken into Town, if we were well behaved we would get taken into a tearoom and get to pick a special cake, from the tiered cake plate.
I wish life was so simple again.



What a B****y carry on to get petrol into my car last night.
Firstly I checked my bank account online to make sure I had the necessary funds to put petrol into my car. My new ATM card had arrived in the mail on Monday, and after transffering my money out of this account so I could use my Visa Debit card over the weekend, I transferred $30 back into it again for fuel. So of course the inevitable happened and my card had not been activated and I couldent pay for the fuel, I was mortified, filled out a whole lot of paperwork just so I could drive away from the pumps and went on to plan B.
Plan B meant driving home and back onto Internet banking and double checking that the account attached to my Visa debit card had the necessary funds in it to cover my fuel, then driving back to the Garage and attempting to pay yet again. This time they wanted a PIN number with my debit card. I have never had a PIN number and had been told by my bank that a signature would be sufficient, but the Lady behind the counter went on at great length to tell me that the bank had mislead me, and we went on to plan C.
Plan C was cash, now in this modern day and age with cards coming out of every orifice, who would have thought that cash would be the obvious way to go, and as cash was the one thing I couldent get out of my bank with my ATM or VISA card I had to borrow it from my MIL, so now I am in debt to the tune of $30 which I cant pay back until my PIN number arrives.
Is your head spinning because mine certainly is. ????


ONLY 3 SLEEPS TO GO

10 comments:

  1. I hope Christmas works out for you and that you are not disappointed by the potential change of plans. I try to avoid that by having the major holidays a week early at my house. This way the family can make plans to be there and still do what they want to on the actual day. That being said, It know it is a little late in the game for such changes for your situation. Hopefully, your son will see that it is very important to you to maintain the plans that were already made. :-)

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  2. I am so glad to hear that you are not feeling stressed right now!!! What a nice way to spend the holidays!!! I am with you - we are being very relaxed things are changing but it isn't bothering me one bit... go with the flow baby! ;)

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  3. Any chance that next time you can keep at $50 bill aside as emergency money? Or $20 in your wallet?

    *sigh* It's so frustrating when things just go wrong.

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  4. Oh Maureen what a nightmare! Keep calm, take a deep breathe and smile...however difficult it is!

    PS, Isn't it great to have a blog you can vent on, lol, I'm sure mine has stopped me ranting at family members many a time :)

    x

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  5. I don't know how you do it! Can you call them and get the pin number? I wish you had our system in Canada, its so easy when you get your new card you activate it at a branch and you pick the pin number you want! It blows my mind that Australia allows this, its like they want you to be in debt and no matter what they will help you stay there!!

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  6. I am a 'traditionalist' so, if it makes you feel any better, the change of plans for Christmas would upset me, too. Hang in there! Your Granddaughter should be able to spend a major holiday with family and not have to be out playing with friends. Now it seems silly but as she ages it will be important that she have a sense of what FAMILY is about. Just my two cents....

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  7. Oh Maureen, I do hope your knee starts to feel better! There is nothing worse than constant pain.

    I hope whereever you end up for Christmas, you are with loved ones. Actually having Christmas out of your house may be nice, as you won't have to do all the work!

    As far as your pin and debit card? What a pain, and you have every right to be aggravated. A switch to all cash is in order, makes it so much easier! :)!

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  8. Feeling your pain, literally, my knees are my weak spot too. I'm sorry crappy stuff is piling up on you right now, just before Christmas. I sure as heck wouldn't want my plans to change at this point in time either! Not having a playmate for a few hours on Christmas Day shouldn't be the end of the world. And your struggle just to get gas - oh my - I would be saying a few choice words to that attendant if I were in your place! So the positive - working overtime I assume? Will make some extra cash? Nice way to start off the new year with a bit of extra $$ in the bank? Hang in there Maureen, we're all rooting for you:)

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  9. I hope Christmas works out OK for you, I think Christmas is about family and traditions, not about playing with friends, so I would be upset also.
    The Pin thing is really frustrating!

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  10. Thanks to you all I certainly did have a bit of a rant, I think I had blown things up out of all proportion. Maybe thats something you do when you are in pain and super tired.
    By the way my Granddaughter is only 20 months old, so getting to play with other youngsters is her idea of Heaven.
    FB you are absolutely right I do need to keep cash on hand for emergencies.

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