Fireworks

Am I the only person who likes the look of fireworks but hates the sound? I remember sitting in my window as a kid and watching the numerous fireworks but I didnt like the loud bangs, especially when out and about. To be fair this year seems like a wash out. Yesterday the weather was dire, but then again how many people do you know that can afford to pay the prices for something that lasts seconds? And for the lucky few who can its all over too soon. Look at China for example they went as far as using CGI for the opening ceremony of the Olympics because it was cheaper!
Add to that the fact that idiots on the streets can get their hands on fireworks from their local shop and let them off as and when they please, into your back garden, into a group of people, at your pets, through your letterbox, and I begin to question whether or not it should be allowed or whether fireworks should be limited to displays only. What do you think?

Opposites attract?

I've been in a relationship off and on for 3 and a half years. Off and on for many reasons, and compatibility seems to be the main thing. People say opposites attract, but when you dont have much if anything in common can it really work?
Its my understanding that the sexes differ in their concept of affection. For most women its cuddles, kisses, little thoughts and gestures, and visual representations (flowers, chocolates etc). For most men, its sex. If a man isnt having sex he feels neglected, if a woman isnt getting cuddles and kisses then she feels neglected, and then it becomes a battle. A woman feels that she shouldnt give the man sex if he doesnt show her affection in ways she wants, and a man feels he shouldnt have to make the effort with gestures and affection if he doesnt get sex at the end of it.
Now my fella wont treat me to anything unless he gets something in return. He bought me 2 bottles of alcohol as a treat with the expectation that his nether regions would get plenty of attention, not because he wanted to treat me (And to note, he didnt cos it pissed me off that he expected it!). Every time I see him, his genitals get mentioned frequently by him in passing. Examples "Will you suck my knob?", "Will you play with my balls?", "My knob hurts, will you rub it better?". Now you're probably smiling at the idea of this but when its frequently and you dont want to hear it, it gets old real fast. We had our daughter pretty soon into the relationship (Within a year), so we only had a matter of a couple of weeks together before I fell pregnant and he has a habit of saying he wants us to go back to how we were at the start but its a bit tricky when you have a child, especially in a one bed flat that you share a bedroom with. Plus after working part time, clearing up after a 2 year old full time, the last thing I want is nooky, I want to sleep! He on the other hand lives at home with his parents, is waited on hand and foot, works full time and comes here on days off and evenings. He's never been a full time carer for our daughter and seems to be unable to see that I cant switch off being mommy so I'm not exactly gonna be in the mood for sex. Plus we never really dated or had a social life together, we just fell into a relationship so I lost all my friends due to not going out anymore and the fact he didnt really like my friends. Anyway, fast forward to the present: We've never been on a night out just the two of us since we got together, everytime I suggest we go out he pulls the money (lack of) card, but then he says he'll book some time off. I think thats great, and wonder what we'll do while the munchkin is at nursery and the first words out of his mouth "We can spend the whole day in bed!". So instead of spending a day together off somewhere nice, as a couple, he wants us to spend the day having sex. Now am I the only one who thinks thats out of order? He has no responsibilities like paying rent, or being a full time parent, He does pay for his kids though but other than that its luxuries. I pay my household bills and for our daughter. He pays £23 a week for her and is now finding it difficult with her because he doesnt see her enough. She's naughty when he's here, she doesnt want him to do anything for her she just wants mommy. Now most blokes would strive to spend more time, to build a bond but no, not this one. He just gives up.
So back to the original question of can opposites work? I'm still trying to find out. I read, he doesn't; I like cats, he prefers dogs; I like action movies, he likes comedy; I like karaoke and pub nights, he prefers not to go out; I'm fascinated by the paranormal and spiritual, he says its all a load of bollocks; I enjoy shopping, he hates it (not really a surprise); I buy him little things all the time, he only buys me something in return of something; I usually know what to buy him, 3 and a half years on he still has no clue what sort of gift I'd like; I perservere, he gives up; I like cuddles, he prefers sex. I guess the only thing keeping us together is the fact we have a child together and I love him but is that honestly enough to keep a relationship when neither of you is getting what you want?

Same s**t, different day

The snow hasn't shifted for ages now and there's more on its way. I'm fed up of it! I'm not one for knowing the ins and outs but if we were suffering with global warming I thought the point was we'd have milder winters. In fact they promised us a milder winter in the summer, and now look at it, weeks of minus temperatures, snow, sleet, its horrible. I live on a hill so I struggle to get out with a 1 year old when the weathers like this and theres nothing worse than being stuck in a 1 bed flat with a toddler, cos theres no room to do much of anything. Even the buses get stuck on my road in the snow! Rain I can deal with, yeah I cant hold a brolly and the buggy, but its better than snow! Bring on the rain!

Spare cigarette?

Is it me or is there really no such thing as a spare cigarette? I am a light smoker, I smoke menthol cigarettes. A pack of 10 currently costs nearly £3 depending on your brand so thats nearly 30p a cigarette. So you're standing there minding your own business and all you hear is "Excuse me, got a spare fag?". Now 9 times out of 10 its usually a chav in a hoodie who asks, with the odd exception being a roughly dressed man who's scrounging for anything. If they offered to pay for said cigarette then I wouldn't have much of an issue, its when they expect you to hand one over like its no big deal free of charge. I always say no, its bad enough I'm funding my own nictine addiction without funding someone elses too. You don't get people approaching you in a bar saying "Excuse me, got a spare pint?" and if you have then that person was just cheeky! Spare change people have, spare time people have, spare cigarette? No chance!

Old people

I have nothing much against old people generally, but they do get my goat on a couple of occasions. The two main beefs with them are as follows:

1. Why if they have a free bus pass that enables them to go out all week and they're retired do they do their shopping on a Saturday, the busiest day of the week? I could understand it if they worked Mon-Fri and the only suitable day was Saturday but they don't. They don't pay for travel so why not shop a less busy day therefore lessening how busy Saturday's are.
2. Why do they insist on parking themselves and their trolleys in the buggy bay on the bus and refuse to move? On many an occasion I've gotten on a bus, paid full price for a ticket to find the bay I need to put my daughter and her pushchair in full of old dears and trolleys. It says on the bus window that the bays are for parents with buggy's and/or heavy shopping, as to which these people are neither, plus they don't pay for their bus travel so why do they think they have the right to take up the space and expect me to get off the bus and get another one, even though I've just paid for a ticket. Now I'm quite polite, I ask them nicely if they'll let me get my buggy in but a lot of the time they refuse to move, telling me there's no space and to get the next one. Well I'll be damned if I'm doing that. This one woman had a trolley next to her in the bay, the trolley was empty but she refused to let it be put in the luggage rack to free up a space, after much toing and froing she realised i wasn't backing down and moved her trolley to rest in front of her allowing me to park the buggy there. She then went on to complain to her friend about how people shouldn't have kids if they couldn't transport them properly and that the younger generation had bad attitudes, were the reason this country had gone downhill and needed a good lashing. Now hang on a minute, this woman had very likely never worked, because she came from a generation whose men worked and women raised the kids, so in essence she'd not paid jack into the country yet she was using free travel on public transport that she'd not paid anything towards. Me? I pay over the top prices to travel on these public services, I pay NI and tax and after 18 months as a full time parent I'm going back to work next month, yet I know there wont be a free bus pass when I retire.

They say my generation has no manners, a bad attitude and is the ruin of the country. Now in every generation there's bad apples and yes the pensioner generation lived through a war and had to live on rations but I can't see how that makes them believe we owe them something. Just cos we're not being bombed on a regular basis doesn't mean we're not at war, we are. So my generation and my daughters are growing up in a war just like they did, difference is this war is mostly political. The latest is the cutbacks may include removing free bus travel for pensioners. Now I don't agree they should have to pay the full cost of travel when their income is so low, but I do agree they should pay something towards it being as a high percentage of the UK's residents are pensioners who don't pay for their travel and that would put money back into the country. Even my nan who's 74 agrees that pensioners should pay something and she didn't retire til a couple of years ago when she got made redundant. She worked through choice not through a need to. Now if all pensioners had my nans attitude there wouldn't be this generational divide and the country would be getting on better financially.

Natural social progression

So I wonder if its a natural progression to go from a social networking site, where you update your status as to what you're thinking or doing, onto a blog. When I was younger I had good intentions about keeping a diary. I had a new one every year at Christmas, would write in it daily in January for about 3 weeks before it dwindled off into no updates at all by March. Whether it had something to do with finding time, not having anything to write about or the fear that if I wrote too much it could fall into the wrong hands, I don't know. I admire people who write everything down, they must go to sleep with clear heads.

Angelina Jolie's diaries have apparently gone missing somewhere in transit between 2 of her homes. I bet they'd be fascinating reading, all the juicy details on what she really thinks of Jennifer Aniston, what her life is like with Brad Pitt and what really happened between her and her father Jon Voight. I can understand why she'd be upset that they're missing, things like that are in essence private but my darker side can't wait to see if they surface and what the juicy details are! You might think that's harsh but I love juice like that! I don't have a celebrity life so I want to see what its really like, might get to see that they're the same as you and I but live their lives in a fish bowl.