Archive - Carpe Diem

Bloody bank bloody charges

by lunadraconis @ 28.04.2008 – 23:24:53

The other day, my bank did the following, the bastards:

I wrote a cheque for £20 for car juice, late on a Thursday night as my pay wasn't going to go into my account until the following day.

They charged me £35 for mis-use of card IMMEDIATELY, removing the money from my account in an instant. This bank charge (not the cheque itself mind you) put me £5.66 over my overdraft. For this honour, they charged me another £43. All of this despite the fact that they knew I had money going in the following day. On top of that, there is an administrative fee of £25 for their um...administration of my overdraft which THEY CAUSED! In total, that little cheque for £20 has cost me £100, just in bank charges which as they have taken them out of my account immediately, has once again left me short and back over my overdraft for which they have charged me another £43. As a result of this further honour, I have been unable to pay my rent by standing order, which I have NOT missed for the last 5 years! Because they refused to pay my standing order, I have once again been charged for returned item another £35. Bastards!

Which means that when next week's pay goes in, half of it will go straight to the bank again, leaving me once again back in overdraft for which they will just carry on fleecing me. In the last few months of early 2008, they have taken in total over £500 of my hard earned money in charges alone immediately and with scant regard for the frivolous bills like rent, oil and electric, not to mention the extorionate council tax. Bastards.

I spent the weekend on moneysavingexpert.com working out how much I have lost in bank charges over the statutory limitation period of 6 years. Using a court interest calculator those bastards owe me £5,000 to date. So come May 22nd when they have had time to reply to the fact that they haveALREADY been found guilty that bank charges are indeed unfair, I'm gonna take that money and shove it in a building society/ISA account where the bank will NEVER get its mitts on it again. Furthermore, I will not have to pay the bastards the same high charges EVER again. Bastards.

Did I mention that they are complete and utter, total bastards??? Name and shame...Royal Bank of Scotland - also known as bastards.

Ho hum!

Warning: rant of the highest order...and then some

by lunadraconis @ 28.04.2008 – 02:55:40

It occurs to me that I am a muppet of the highest order because I am always choosing the new editor when, as a er...um...'non' pro, I shouldn't actually bother. I am not a 'pro' for various reasons.

1. I don't believe I should have to pay to put pretty things on my blog, receive random accoutriments and exercise a degree of freedom of speech (this last refers to a blog I recently read about someone asking a question that had many people asking for his immediate removal, when in actual fact he had merely posed a question - (seems to me, if you want to play devil's advocate you have to find a hell-site!) Shame on all of you who believe in free speech, espcially if its only what YOU want to hear!

2. You want to piggy back to advertise nonsense on my blog? Go ahead. It doesn't mean you have my permission nor that I agree with what you are saying...but I defend to the death your right to say it! See above! Well, not perhaps to the death but say what you want on my blog...I don't actually care, s'long as it aint a personal character assassination.

3. Cos I don't pay, when I actually want to take time out to write something fairly decent (and not always interesting, admittedly) I can't unless it's on the ACTUAL site...meaning that...I can't write something in word and copy and paste. Turns it all into hieroglyphics, which is a blessing for those who DON'T actually want to hear my rants but frustrating for me the mediocre writer - who doesn't want to pay shit-loads for freedom of speech and who doesn't like Times New Roman or any other bloody font that isn't vaguely er...more my style and FREE!! Neh, I live with it.

Anyways...

I have recently downloaded the Enochian font but the PC doesn't really like it...nevertheless, I shall persevere out of sheer bloody mindedness! For all those of you who like a riddle, download Enochian and look at the allegedly cryptographic and very ANCIENT(um..,p'raps!!!) Voynich Manuscript. It's quite a good read if you're that way inclined - but if you crack it, I wanna be the first to know!!

Furthermore..

I am waging a war against the television licence fee, which, although legal is actually unlawful. Oh, don't ask me the difference, I'm only a legal secretary, who spotted many errors commited by qualified solicitors...ha! Not only didn't I get any thanks for pointing these things out, I got lots of abuse for presuming to aspire beyond my station (jumped up ****ing Arts Graduates who sold out!) (I [sanctimonously} have maintained MY degree in its PURITY! [Copious amounts of laughter are welcomed])

SERIOUS ADVICE...NEVER TRUST ANY SOLICITOR WHO DOESN'T HAVE LLB AFTER THEIR NAMES, IF THEY HAVE BA(HONS) THEY'RE NOT WORTH THE PAPER. All it means is that they did a degree in something else (usually English Lang/Lit or History [Arts anyway]) and converted to law...ending up in fast track personal injury or traffic accidents (see ambulance chasers) and denying their own capabilities in other areas (where presumably they got their degrees in the FIRST BLOODY PLACE!) You want a REALLY GOOD LAWYER, get a GENUINE LLB (Batchelor of Law).

Yeah, so, the TV licence...BE WARNED ALL OF YOU OUT THERE WHO THINK YOU ARE SAFE BECAUSE YOU WATCH IT ON broadband, ipods or any other medium you computer geniuses out there (Goddess, believe me...I absolutely love you all and long may you reign) can produce...because, according to the er...law you cannot receive LIVE BROADCASTS from the BBC. Bugger me if I would want to, frankly. The best thing the BBC has produced in years (in my humble opinion) is the resurrection of Dr Who (love those bloody Celtic geniuses - yeah, okay I'm biased) and possibly Question Time; I'm ambivalent about Newsnight; borderline about Have I Got News for You but, in fairness, passionate about QI. HOWEVER, I am more than happy to watch them at another time, without being told when I should!

In total, therefore, I possibly watch less than 4 hours of BBC a week. I am unhappy that the BBC gets away with blatently contravening the EU Competition laws, specifically Articles...oh, never mind! That's something the hippy wants me to put out there and free for all...which I would but...EVERYONE BELIEVE THE LIES.

The En(FORCE)ment officers cannot enter your home if you tell them to leave. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES OPEN THE DOOR. YOU ARE NOT BREAKING THE LAW IF YOU DON'T. You can withdraw presumed right of access to your property (IN WRITING); DO NOT LET THEM ENTER YOUR PROPERTY - EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE PERFECTLY ENTITLED TO DO THIS! IF ANY WARRANT OR ANY INFORMATION REFERS TO YOU AS THE OCCUPIER, you can refuse to let them enter your 'castle' if they do not have your REAL name. They have to have your actual name on any warrant...mind you, if they tell you they have a warrant, snort derisively in their general direction. NO COURT IN THE LAND WILL ISSUE A WARRANT WITHOUT THE OCCUPIER'S NAME. IF THEY TELL YOU THEY HAVE EVIDENCE OF YOU OWNING A TV, TELL THEM TO PROVE IT...INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY MY FRIENDS!!!

They CANNOT BY LAW INTERVIEW YOU UNDER PACE...this is a lie and they can only do this if you are being RECORDED, THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE THIS RIGHT ARE THE REAL POLICE...HENCE THE POLICE AND CRIMINAL EVIDENCE ACT 1984...Ah but, if you are brave enough, have a hidden recorder and INTERVIEW THEM under PACE...that should be a hoot for the Mags!!!!

Oh, there are so many other things they can't do...this is an UNLAWFUL tax...there is evidence that they target ONLY the unemployed and welfare mothers, largely due to to the times of the day in which they call...disgusting!

Threatening letters, time and time again. Enforcers in your area...SS tactics at their very best. DON'T BELIEVE THEM, please!!!!!

There is a Federal Tax in the US. It is deducted at source - yet, no-one knows the reason for its existence and there has been no accounting for its workings by the Federal Reserve. Yet EVERYBODY in America gives money to this tax for NO BETTER REASON THAN THAT THEIR PARENTS DID AND THAT IT IS A GIVEN!

Hmmmmmmm!!! - Actually, that reminds me of my NATIONAL INSURANCE scenario but that is a WHOLE OTHER RANT!

As stealth taxes go, THE UNLAWFUL TV LICENCING BULLSHIT has GOT to be a brahma! As I said in my VERY pissed off letter to CAPITA (they're the ones who threaten to break down your door if you don't have a TV licence!), ultimately you have brainwashed people into believing they don't have a choice...but gosh, THEY REALLY DO (thank heavens for European Union legislation [sometimes!])...YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY YOUR TV LICENCE (TILL THEY PROVE YOU GUILTY...OF RECEIVING LIVE BBC (ONLY) TRANSMISSIONS).

Now, isn't that refreshing? Aren't you glad about that? Ho hum...either you didn't care or you happily pay it anyway.

Yes...harassing my 80 year old mother who lives alone in a block of flats, who suffers from diabetes and chronic arthritis; and who is intimidated to let these goons in and who is in any bloody case entitled to a free licence - is a GREAT way of me believing that what CAPITA are doing is a GOOD thing!

TO THOSE OF YOU OUT THERE WHO THINK I'M NOTHING MORE THAN AN EVADER - A BLOT ON THE ESCUTCHEON FOR THOSE MORE LAW-ABIDING PEOPLE AND THOSE WHO PAY THEIR TV LICENCE BECAUSE ITS LAW ABIDING AND THEREFORE RIGHT - IT'S NOT! SERIOUSLY GET OVER YOURSELVES AND REMOVE HEAD FROM NO SUNSHINE PLACE!

IT'S UNLAWFUL; A CONTRAVENTION OF EUROPEAN COMPETITON LAWS AND DUE TO ITS THREATENING BEHAVIOUR, CONTRARY TO HUMAN RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES LAWS...go figure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Before criticising let me tell you that:

I AM THE IDIOT WHO STARTED PAYING COUNCIL TAX ON A PROPERTY SHE DID NOT OCCUPY, JUST TO AVOID PROBLEMS.

I RECYCLE AND REUSE, USING WEEKLY/FORTNIGHTLY COLLECTIONS RARELY. MY PARTNER HAS NO CARBON FOOTPRINT WHATSOEVER! We have absolutely no need for the police as we live in a peaceful area; we are NOT a drain on any resources that we cannot offset ourselves. I work in an environmental agency that works hard to conserve habitats and wildlife; promotes renewable energies; prevents pollution of rivers and coastal areas; avoids destruction of roosts for bats and nesting birds; saves forests that are the preferred home for red squirrels; is actively engaged in off-shore windfarms; works with vets who are trying to find the cure for bovine TB without destroying ad hoc the badgers allegedly spreading it...ultimately I consider myself to be a good person. What about you, legal licence payer? SOP FOR CERBERUS PERHAPS?????

NEVERTHELESS, I WILL NOT, REPEAT NOT, PAY A TV LICENCE when they are demanding my hard earned money for NOTHING! They are NOT a good cause. Cancer, is a good cause; research into killer diseases is a good cause; wildlife is a good cause; renewable energy, volunteer organisations whatever they represent are a good cause. THE BRIBERY, more BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION CO-OPERATION (BBC) are not, not will they EVER be!!!!!!!!!!!!

-END-

Now, after having put all that into perspective, I would just like to whinge about whine...sorry, wine. Today, I bought a bottle of screw top wine from Tesco in a small town, very close to Carmarthen, in Wales - Chile Merlot, selected by Tesco - label/bottle no: L8016 22.05.02, with instructions as to the way in which you should serve it to its best...um...yeah, okay, not THAT bad a year...although possibly NOT for laying purposes...

So.......

My question therefore would be:

Can ANYBODY explain to me WHY it's CORKED?????

Lonely...so very lonely tonight

by lunadraconis @ 20.04.2008 – 23:54:12

I am feeling particularly miserable tonight. I have spent all day today trying to make the house nice and welcoming for my partner, with a beautifully made up table, including candles; to start - avocade and mushrooms, soaked in lemon juice, olive oil and some white wine vinegar, served on a bed of lightly toasted garlic bread; to follow - a meat dinner (I am a veggie, he is not), of roast lamb with thyme and rosemary (from the garden), roast potatoes with a light dusting of paprika, boiled potatoes with fresh parsley (also from the garden), cauliflower and broccoli, lightly spiced then battered and deep fried, old-fashioned gravy made with the lamb juices, flour, potato water and a dash of honey and red wine; home-made fresh fruit salad and honey sweetened riccotta cheese; all served with a nicely chilled rose wine.

All of this has gone to hell because he has had a few drinks and insisted on listening to that most miserable Jim Morrison and the Doors whilst eating. I asked him to change the music and he put on the Woodstock album, full of protest songs about Vietnam. I asked him if we could have something more upbeat, he asked me what I wanted and before I could reply, he played Led Zep, admittedly one of my favourite bands. I said I was not in the mood for rock or metal and he then sarcastically suggested that I might want classical music (which he knows I love), or worse, Welsh harp music (which he knows I adore!) I said I would just like to be able to talk without shouting over the music, I just wanted some background. I said that there must be some mellow music we had in common. He sneered that what I was really saying was that I wanted it all my own way. I walked out of the room to avoid an argument. He shouted and threw things after me.

End result - I'm sitting upstairs alone with just the Iguana and the kitten, he has fallen asleep, bolt upright on the dining room chair with his head back snoring! The food has not been touched.

Sometimes, just once in a while, I would like to be reminded of why I even bother trying.

Ah well, this song immediately sprang to mind...I really am okay most of the time but just occasionally...

Blessed be all xxx

The Sacred Feminine...

by lunadraconis @ 02.04.2008 – 00:52:15

Greetings and merry meet.

I am currently reading three books, well actually two as I have just finished re-reading Terry Pratchett's Jingo - oh, I just love the way that man writes. Secondly I am reading a book I have just purchased for a mere £1 by Soraya, writing of spells and psychic powers - well written, easy to understand and very matter of fact. The third book - and this is the point - is Celtic Women by Jean Markale, a relatively academic book which, considering I read fantasy fiction for pleasure is a bit um...'out there' for me, as I am no longer in 'research mode' or Uni.

Anyway...I am utterly and completely in awe of how actually dumb I am about women who preceeded me. Now, I am not talking here about the obvious women from my particular period in history like Boudicca, Godiva, the Eleanors of Castille and Aquitaine, Jean D'Arc and even up to Elizabeth I (although my period stops at the end of the Plantaganets in 1399), no indeed, I am talking about genuine er...real sort of 'dark' age stuff.

I suppose technically, calling a book Celtic women must presume pre-Christianity otherwise it would be Welsh, Cornish or Breton. Oh, this next statement is going to open such a can of worms...'cos TECHNICALLY and LINGUISTICALLY, the Irish, the Scots and the Manx are NOT Celts...they are Gaelic. They speak Goedelic which in turn became Gaelic...I guess this must be true otherwise, the Welsh, the Cornish and the Breton would be able to understand the Irish, Scots and Manx er...wouldn't they? What I mean is...as a fluent Welsh (and French - so similar!!!) speaker, I can perfectly understand Cornish and Breton (and understand the written Italian, Spanish and Portuguese languages) but I cannot understand a single word of Gaelic! Although both Celtic and Gaelic are descended from the same Indo-European language, they diverged and became individual. Gaelic merged with Viking or Norse and Welsh merged with Latin, Anglo-Saxon and Norman, although surprisingly, not over-much! So did French, Italian, Spanish and Portugese and these then became known as the Romance languages - Welsh, Breton and Cornish included. Even though as part of my degree course I studied medieval manuscripts in Latin, Old English, Old French and Old Welsh, I did this largely to study the pretty pictures! Ultimately, I don't REALLY know as I'm not a linguist just a medieval historian. I do admit to being completely puzzled that modern day Italian is nothing like Latin though! Hmmm! Anyway, although the above statement will probably incite some comments, that wasn't what I wanted to say.

What the author Jean Markale is doing is using myths and legends to extract information about the status of women prior to Christianity. She mentions in detail all the trapped damsels in distress and how men must overcome many obstacles to achieve the woman's release. These stories she puts down to men's general adoration of women and the fact that to achieve their goal they have to practically lay siege to gain 'the holy grail'. She says that these damsels in distress are a euphemism for the vagina and that men, whilst being in awe of it, don't actually understand it. Look, if this is going to upset people, please do not read any further. I am not writing this blog to incite arguements or get myself banned for putting across my own interpretation of someone else's interpretation! Er...I think!

It is perhaps understandable therefore that recent thinking has led to the belief that the 'holy grail' is in fact a woman. After all, it is alleged that it held the blood of Christ and there are many ways a woman could do that. The same recent authors also put forward the following...if you look at the front end of a cathedral, where you always see the round usually roseate stained glass window, the two large square towers on either side and then the entrance, usually in darkness underneath the rose window...you effectively have a womb. The roseate window, it is suggested, is a representation of the clitoris, the towers the legs and the darkened entrance, is the way to the womb. Jean Markale explains that originally men did not have an understanding of their own part in creating babies and that it was one of the mysteries of the female. Because of this, women became sacred and their blood loss working with the lunar month became a genuine mystery. However, when they did find out what part they played...well, that's the history of religion!

And lighten up...nobody wants to read anymore of that sort of stuff...

...and there are many men who don't think like this...

Nevertheless...

Our understanding today is that the clitoris is the only organ designed for pure pleasure...it has NO other purpose unlike the male member. So ladies, the next time you successful females, who have clawed their way to the top, are told that you either 'slept with the boss' to get there, or that you are some sort of 'penis-envying dyke', just look down at the area in which they keep their brains, smile knowingly and sympathetically at them and adopt complacent SMUG mode!

It is also worth bearing in mind that a man's penis performs three functions - THREE mark you, which clearly belies the fact that men have always maintained they can't MULTI task. They drive, don't they?

1. Allows frequent exit for bodily fluids, that are almost instantly replaced by alcohol based products;

2. Clearly demonstrates thought when not encumbered by the above; and

3. Gains entry to the sacred feminine provided they have worshipped at the altar of our complacency for a suitable period.

Engage clutch, up the H and accelerate!

Frivolous I know but thought after that sort of beginning I might have been a bit too heavy for a blog!!!!!!! There is so much more to that book and I might yet create another blog just to discuss it.

Right, a bottle of red wine later and I am now off to bed on the grounds that I am working tomorrow and I'm talking nonsense.

I heard that. Who said no change there then?

Blessed be all and have a wonderful Wed...er today! xxx