Face Book Likes

OK, OK, OK, I'm going to RANT about Facebook now.................




.............It's Christmas.  There's been sooooo much crap on FB over the last few days about liking this and liking that.  There's adverts for this and there's adverts for that.  FB is driving me mad.  Unfortunately I'm a bit addicted to FB.  I check it on my phone, I check it on my ipad, I check it on my laptop.  I don't actually think I go more than a couple of hours without checking my 'news feed' on FB.


I think I may be a bit addicted to FB or social media or emails or whatever.


I'm not sure that I could live without the internet???  And for a ranting middle aged spinster; that's a very, very scary thing to admit.


However what is really, really, really annoying me at the moment is the number of  'pulling at the heart strings' posts that there are on FB.  We're constantly being bombarded with photos of ill kids, 90+ war veterans, puppies that have been abandoned.......................  And they all seem to have the same 'tag'...............'Lets see if we can get 1000 likes'.???


WHY???


What is it about 'FB likes' that is sooooooo important?????


..............So................. an abandoned puppy gets 1000 'likes'??  Is that going to mean it will go to a better home than it would have done had it just gone through the 'normal' rescue channel route?


............So.................... a 90+ war veteran gets thousands & thousands of likes on FB.  Is a 90+ war veteran really going to be on FB?  I would have thought it would have meant more to a  90+ war veteran if a real live person popped in for a cup of tea and a chat???


And as for all the 'ill kids' that we're constantly being asked to 'like' on FB;  Do their parents really want people that they don't know, clicking on a button and 'liking' their status????


What is the point of all this??????


I'm as guilty as the next person for posting 'totally irrelevant crap' on FB. 


BUT - I'm using FB as a diary of my life.  I couldn't care less how many likes or comments I get.  As far as I'm concerned that part of FB is irrelevant to me.


However when I was at my sisters at Christmas, my 16 year old niece wanted her mum to post a picture of the cake that she had made on her FB page.  And when I asked why she wasn't posting it on her own page she said, 'Mum's friends will appreciate it more and I'll get more likes'.  To me that is very, very sad.


I've obviously got a lot more to learn about way FB works???


There again I'm old enough not to care?!


I post what I want.  I do what I want.  I LOVE FB but I use it how I want. xxx

Christmas with the family

Firstly, before I start ranting, I LOVE Christmas with my family.  I LOVE my family.  I LOVE the fact that as a 'ranting middle aged spinster', my family always welcome me into their home at Christmas.


I am very, very, lucky to have sisters (& their partners) & nephews & nieces that accept me as the 'ranting middle aged spinster' that I am.


So many people seem to fall out with their families for ridiculous reasons, for petty squabbles, for drunken comments, for no reason at all??!! 


My family is fabulous.  Our family has always stuck together.  And they don't even watch EastEnders.  We're family.  Lol lol lol.  They think I'm a bit mad and eccentric.  I'm not!  I just don't live my life the way they do.


I have two sisters and they've always been closer to each other than I have to them.  BUT there again, before I start ranting..................  I also know that if I ever needed them............... they would be there for me (as I would be for them).  We're family and we will stick together.  I trust them with my life.  And I also love my nephews & niece more than words can say.


So now can I start ranting?................................


........................Christmas with the family???................................................


I'm all for sitting down and having Christmas Dinner together, it's lovely, I like a family meal and it was lovely that all of the family wanted to be there...................... but as for every meal???...................... I just don't understand why my teenager nephews & niece want to spend the whole time with their mummy & daddy & an aging ranting old spinster???  It's all a bit alien to me??? 


I've got quite a few friends who have teenage kids who I hardly ever see and the teenage kids are either off out with their mates or doing whatever teenage kids do in their bedrooms.  My sisters kids do not spend time in their bedrooms (apart to sleep).  And they don't seem to have any mates?? (Apart from my 19 yr old nephew - he seems to have a pretty 'normal' teenage life.)  They never go out while I'm there, and I'm pretty sure that their 'aging ranting middle aged spinster auntie' can't be that exciting??? BUT they just seem to want to spend all their time with their mummy & daddy?? 


They're 20, 19 & 16 years old.  Is this normal???  Or am I just being totally cynical???  They're all adults.  Why do they not want to go off into the 'big bad world' and do stuff themselves???


'Christmas with the family'.................................. my sister informed me that she's going to book a 'family' holiday in July.  Lovely!!!!  BUT with two of her kids at uni and one just about to enter 6th form would you not think that they might all be working for the summer???  Apparently not.


That annoys me.....................  the fact that my nephews & niece don't seem to think that they need to work in the holidays,  Mummy & Daddy will pay for everything even their mobile phones, their uni fees, their car insurance etc and will also pay for them to go on holiday.


BUT what annoys me even more is.................. the fact that my sister has never, ever worked in the last 20 years (that doesn't annoy me - she has a rich husband and that is her choice).  It's the fact that she seems to think she knows everything about 'getting a job'.  She's pressurising her kids to produce wonderful CVs  She's paid more than £100 for my 16 yr old niece to do a 'lifeguarding' course even though my niece probably won't get a lifeguarding job in the immediate future and it has to be renewed, at a cost, every couple of years.


Most of the jobs for students are 'minimum wage jobs', where their charm, wit & dazzling personality will go a lot further than handing in a CV??.....................


I know.  I am in a position where I employ a lot of 16 year old kids.  And to be honest I don't want to see a CV.  I want to see them.  I want to talk to them.  I want to know if they're reliable, trustworthy, conscientious, practical, able to follow instructions & do what they're told.  I want them to have a pleasant disposition to talk to people and I want them to be adaptable to any task.


The kids that we employ in the business where I work are paid more than the National Minimum Wage.


Not quite sure how this 'Christmas with the Family' blog has morphed into a 'employing students' rant??


But hey ho - sometimes things just turn out like that. LOL LOL LOL!!!

Wine

I think today I might have a bit of a rant about wine?  I LOVE wine.  I drink copious quantities of the stuff.  But actually........................ in the run up to Christmas..................... I'm going to rant about it???


Every single time that the adverts come on the TV they're telling us which supermarket we can go to get 25% off if we buy 6 bottles.  I never, ever, buy less than 6 bottles at a time!  Every single time that I walk into a local corner shop I'm confronted with a huge sign saying, '3 bottles of wine for £12'.
Every single time that I go out for a meal at this time of year, I'm confronted with such advertising campaigns as; 'buy two steaks & get a free bottle of wine'.


I succumb to all of the above.  I LIKE wine!!!!


However; at this time of year........................  everybody likes wine??!!  It's Christmas.  People buy wine to drink in their homes.  People go out celebrating and drink wine.  People go to parties where wine is consumed.


What I don't really understand is; why the 'wine manufacturers/supermarkets' feel the need to introduce 'special offers' at this time of the year?  It just seems a bit mad to me.


It's Christmas.......................  Christmas is the time of year when most wine is consumed so if you are selling it..................... why on earth would you put it on 'special offer' when everyone is going to buy it anyway?  People want wine at Christmas.  They will buy it whatever the price because it is an item that they want.


If I were a wine supplier/supermarket, I'd be hiking up the prices before Xmas and then putting it all on special offer in January.


Lets face it.........................  Loads of people do 'dry January'???  Traditionally nothing happens in January, nobody has any money, the weather is awful so no one wants to go out, even if they do have money.  And everyone is very grateful for any little positive boost that they can get!


Perhaps I'm just being cynical.  Or perhaps I'm just a 'tight old git?'


....................BUT; I buy a lot of wine over the Christmas period I buy a lot of wine throughout the year Lol! but putting it on 'special offer' for Christmas has absolutely no influence over what I buy, where I buy it from, or how much I buy???


I'll be totally honest.........................  I buy all of my Xmas wine from Tesco & Asda because they are my nearest supermarkets.  I know that Sainsbury's has been running a '25% off 6 bottles of wine' campaign, but 'Sainsbury's' wine is a lot more than Tesco & Asda in the first place and what I would save by buying 6 bottles of wine, if I went trekking to Sainsbury's (which is a lot further away from Tesco & Asda) I'd probably lose on petrol costs???  And I don't want to do the rest of my shop in Sainsbury's because most things are a lot more expensive than Tesco & Adsa.


Having said that.........................  I'm not quite sure if I'm a snob or not?........................  If Waitrose were doing  25% off 6 bottles of wine, I might actually consider that.....................  BUT living in the South West, it's probably a 2hr drive to our nearest Waitrose and I'm pretty sure they don't do 'online delivery' to my area???


Living in the South West is wonderful.  Location. Location. Location.  And all that??!!


National advertising campaigns for wine????


.......................As far as I'm concerned.......................... It just doesn't work down here!!!


...............Which is why I'll be off to Tesco & Asda (& possibly even Lidl) tomorrow to buy my Xmas supply of wine. Lol!!!

Buying tickets to see a STAR

Tonight I am trying to buy tickets to see Lionel Richie at the Eden Project.


I have been trying to do this for the last four hours.


I first started to do this at 5.45pm and I was 228th in the queue.  After almost 3 hours I reached number 1 in the queue and then actually got through to the booking office.


Keyed in the number of tickets I wanted (only 2) and then a message popped up saying; 'Unable to allocate the number of spaces'.


No explanation as to why this should be the case.  I tried keying in just 1 ticket, I tried keying in 10 tickets but it still kept popping up with the same stupid message.


This is not good service.  There is no phone number to ring for problems.  We are all just expected to do everything online.


To be honest; I don't even know why I want to go and see Lionel Richie???  Helloooooooo.............


He was a bit star in the 1980s but he must be a very ancient now????


The tickets are £65 plus the booking fee, if you buy them direct from the Eden Project.  The tickets are £125 if you buy them from 'ticket master'.  This is just ridiculous?!!  Why on earth does an aging 1980s popstar think that he can demand such high fees???


.................Probably because nostalgic people like me are sitting for the whole of the evening trying to buy tickets for his show.


Oh dear........................  Perhaps we're all a bit sad.


PS - 4 hours later I still haven't managed to buy any tickets but I'm still trying..........................

Community Involvement

Living in a small town in the Southwest I like to get involved in the community events, especially at Christmas time.


I do such things as helping to decorate the towns Christmas trees, helping out with the towns festive activities & helping out with the New Year Celebrations.


BUT..................  what is really starting to bug me more & more is the number of people who do absolutely nothing to help and then start moaning about everything that they think should be going on.


I will freely admit that I do not do very much to help my town.  In the month of December I am probably only going to dedicate about 10 hours of my time to ensuring that our Christmas/New Year festivities are fabulous.  Having said that................  If everyone else in town dedicated 10 hours per month, then we'd probably all just have to dedicate one hour every couple of months.


Just what has happened to community spirit????


The town that I live in is looking fabulous.  But it's only looking fabulous because a very small band of volunteers has made it look this way.


And it's really, really, really annoying when one walks around town and listens to gossip because that's what happens in a small town saying that this isn't right and that isn't right and so & so should have been done differently.


I really feel like just slapping some of these people.


What on earth gives these people, (who haven't contributed anything whatsoever), the right to criticise what is being done when all they're doing is sitting on their arses???


This is a small town.  It's a very lovely small town.  The Christmas decorations are looking very, very fabulous in our small town.  Our New Year celebrations are going to be fantastic.


Wise up....................  all you moaners and move into the 21st century.


Stuff doesn't happen by itself. 


Years ago, the whole community would have pulled together to ensure that everyone had a good time at Christmas & New Year.  Now it seems that there are only a few individuals who are prepared to give up their time and make this happen.


Come on peeps....................


...................Christmas is a time for giving, sharing, loving................