Eck'in Aye!

1 x Stomach Bug - 5 days
1 x Cold - 4 days
All over Christmas.
Allocation of illness' for the year coming - complete.

BUT NO. Another cold and its only January 26th!

So much for the Echinacea!

Frugal Rocks London stylee

Some people think London is expensive, here's how i make sure its not.

Taste London: Either buy one get one free or 50% off all food with this card. 100's of restaurants. Get half price food at 100's of restaurants in London. Only really valid most places Monday-Thursday if you book:


£12 hair cuts at Vidal Sassoon training academies. All of them take about 3 hours (I take a good book) but if you go for a 'creative one' ie you let them do pretty much what they like, you could get it done by a really good salon owner haircutter- this is my fav as they put hints of colour in, and they cant speak English often so you don't have to do the small talk (which is one of the reasons i don't go to any other hairdresser).

Orange Wednesdays, 2 for the price of 1 film tickets. Everyone knows this. Also works at Pizza Express.

Fire and Stone. Great unusual pizza restaurant in Covent Garden. My favourite is the one with Book online to get two Pizza's for £10.

The Audience Club. Get all tickets for £2 each to loads of theatre productions which are not sold out (£50 for a year membership):

See films first (and for free) in the preview stage. Often only matinees though.

Days out by Train. If you have a valid train ticket (no matter the distance) then you can get half price entrance to loads of London attractions. Its worth buying a train ticket from the nearest station and not using it just to do this.

Free Museums and Gallery's.

Even boys MUST like this.... look at it!

I'm not sure on the rules of getting pictures off the net and posting them on here. I am by no means claiming that i took this picture, but surely whoever took it feels that it is so cute that the world must see it! i want it. If this is your picture let me know, so that i can come and see the chipmunk!

The robust, purple, Monster!

By 1030 this morning i was starving, and since it was obviously not lunch time, i figured a packet of crisps would have to suffice. [Lets not talk about my diet- i only recognise 5 main food groups- chocolate, potato's (i.e. chips, crisps, roast potatoes. chips), salad (for days when you need a break from chocolate and potatoes), Diet Coke and boring foods (usually carbohydrates, main meals, which i try to avoid as I'd prefer to spend my 2,000 calories on more fun stuff). ]

So i tried to buy the crisps from the vending machine in our work 'kitchen' (cupboard with yellow lights, microwave minus the rotating glass plate, and no soap). However unsurprisingly the crisps got stuck on the grand fall down and hung precariously there. After a few solid hits they did not move and i could hit no more due to fear that my colleagues would interpret the violence and noise as either a mental health or anger 'problem'. So i recruited Junior to help. With the use of a twisted paper clip we got the crisps out, and they did taste pretty good.

There is a number for comments on top of the machine so ever the optimist i text in:

'Hi Machine maintainer people. I brought a packet of crisps 2day from the lovely purple machine in [our location], BUT unsurprisingly they did not fall down and I've had 2 spend 20 stressful minutes with a paper clip trying 2 beat the fail proof anti-theft system - i won! But surely this should not be happening. Please can i have a free chocolate bar (i like peanut M&M's best) as compensation? U can leave it in an envelop at reception. Best wishes, LE.'

One of may favourite sayings is, 'You miss 100% of the shots you don't take'. I then lamented to Rowl a minute later that no-one had replied when low and behold:

'Thanks for contacting snack-in-the-box we'll be in touch with you when we next swing by - regards Simon'.

Yippee. 'swing by'? They sound casual, perhaps they can dish out free chocolate!

P.S i don't always complain. In fact this week i wrote to a particularly good foster carer i have been working with and thanked her and also sent a letter to her manager singing her praises. If we are going to be quick to complain we should also be quick to praise.