Category Archives: Politics

I Definitely Speak English Now

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as opposed to American.

I say ‘That was nice’ when I eat something yummy.

I ask ‘What is she called’ when told about new baby.

I say something is quite, i.e. ‘my hands are quite bad today’.

Things are ‘good fun’.

I use wanker and bollocks for swearing.

I also speak a bit of Irish as I definitely say ‘craic’ on a regular basis!

When my family tease me or call me on it I say ‘I live here. Of course I try to speak the language. Just as I would if I lived in a country that didn’t speak a form of English.’

They concede I have a point!

Random Thoughts From City Centre

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Tour guide saying ‘Belfast is a town of religious balance’ is the ultimate in irony as half of city centre closes for a bomb alert.

Oh, you poor dear. Your son is adorable but just because my son is nearly 2 does not mean he sleeps through all the time. Enjoy your 8 week old. And don’t worry about him grizzling. My two year old screamed through most of Tesco today.

The choice was between 2 bottles for £5 and a bottle for £4.99 that said the vineyard was started by the Knights Templar. Knights Templar bottle won, hands down.

No chocolate tarts available yet at Spring Continental Market. Chocolate Belgian Waffles acquired instead.

Speaking of which, I swear they were 3 for something last year, like £2 each or 3 for £5. Now they are either £2 or £3 each. Yes, we have 2 providers of Belgian Waffles in Chocolate this year. And 2 ice cream stalls. Oh and a candy floss stall.

Adam’s screaming fit was due to Castle Court not being open so he couldn’t go to the play area and/or ride the lift. How do you explain bomb threats and security alerts to a 2 year old?

There was an H&W ship called Traffic?!?

To Harness or Not to Harness

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This issue is debated almost as much as breast versus bottle and SAH versus WOH.

When walking down the street, my son wears a harness. He is a small boy. He’s not very street savvy. We live in the middle of the city. He doesn’t like to hold hands.

Therefore, he wears a harness.

Do I get looks? Yes.

Do I care? No.

This is one of those issues that makes me question humanity at times. Dogs need to be on leashes. In fact, in a lot of places no leash equals a fine. So why is your dog, who is not very street savvy and won’t hold hands, more precious than my son?

Also, I’m not very tall, but I am taller than Adam. How uncomfortable it must be to be more or less pulled along by an arm that is over your head. Imagine doing that yourself. No chance to explore or stop for a second to look at that interesting bug over there before running to catch up.

Adam has perfect freedom within the length of his harness lead.

He loves it.

And so do I.

Let’s Talk About St Patrick’s Day

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And what happens here in Belfast.

Drunken debauchery, mostly.

Most people have the day off and so they start drinking early. Simon took Adam to daycare as usual today (so we could do things around the house without Adam underfoot, a rare occurrence!) and people were already queueing at Tesco with booze to buy.

Simon was a bit concerned about my going to pick Adam up for 5 due to people having been drinking all day. But it was really no big deal.

For one thing, there were cops everywhere on my main route. For another, all of the pubs and bars had very obvious security standing outside and, I’m sure, inside.

I did see people already drunk at 430. But I also saw a lot of people just having fun. Wearing big green hats. Wearing those headbands with shamrocks at the ends of springs. Laughing. Hanging out with their friends. Enjoying a gorgeous early spring evening and, yes, having a drink.

So how are Simon and I celebrating St Patrick’s Day?

Well, we cleaned the flat without a small boy underfoot.

Then we had some smoked salmon for lunch.

Then we napped.

Then I got Adam from daycare and Simon cooked spaghetti.

And now a small boy is fast asleep (at 730, whoohoo!) and Simon and I are sharing some Stella and having an Easter Egg.

So Happy St Patrick’s Day.

And enjoy the craic!

I Have Spent The Last Few Days

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as it looks more and more likely that Christmas will be Simon, Adam and I, due to my in laws being iced in, thinking about Christmases past with my family.

And I wonder, does my step mom still yell down the stairs, after being woken by the younger generation, once her children, now her grandchildren, ‘Did he come?’  Just as if she wasn’t the one who arranged the gifts under the tree.

Do my brother and step-sister remember the year we stood out and lighted the Illuminares over and over and over again?  And the one year where one of the bags caught fire because of the wind and my brother had to stamp it out?

The year I got mad as my slightly drunk step mother insisted that I go to bed so Santa could come because I was the baby and I was at least 21?

The first Christmas J & B and I were in California and we were so broke but still had one of the best Christmases ever.

The year my dad had a heart attack at Thanksgiving and I went home for Christmas for the first time since I had moved to California.

My first horribly homesick Christmas in Northern Ireland, when I left Simon at the local pub and crawled into bed to cry.

Being with my family last year, for the first time in 6 years.

And now, just me and Simon and Adam.  Our first Christmas in our own place.  We wish the in laws could be here, but the weather is against us.

So we’ll eat a ton of turkey.  And a lot of sausages.  And possibly waaaay to much stuffing (everyone has sent me Stove Top! I have four boxes!).

And have a Happy Christmas.

Christmas 2010

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So this year, for the first time, we are staying home for Christmas.  In our own flat.  Simon’s parents are coming to stay and I am making Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.

And so we bought a tree.  It’s not real.  It’s very small.  And it’s behind barriers so a small boy leaves it alone.

It’s hardly the tree I envisioned.  But it’s all ours.

And I think Charlie Brown would like it: –

Christmas Tree 2010

Happy Christmas everyone!

My Totally Craptascular Week

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Monday – Actually not too bad, as I went to the Pain Clinic and have been scheduled for Acupuncture after the 1st of the year.

Tuesday – Washer repair man suppose to be here between 8 and 10.  At 9 my phone rings telling me the repairman is ill and won’t be here until Friday.  So we enter week 2 with no washing machine.  And I’m off to an evening gig, that I was 20 minutes late for because it took 30 minutes to get from here to the client’s in the pouring rain in a taxi.  Because it never rains in Belfast so no one knows how to drive in it. O__o

Wednesday – Horrible nights sleep but swamped with work, processing the video from Tuesday night, so can’t have a rest while Adam is at Germcare (TM).  At about 10 there’s a knock on my door.  It’s the plasterer, who was suppose to be here Tuesday afternoon, to take a  look at the paint that is bubbling again in my hall, assumed to be from a leak in the heating pipes as it was fine until the heating was turned on.  He has no idea what he’s suppose to do, so I tell him landlord said he’d cut a small hole in the wall to look for a leak.  He starts banging away and I try to get back to work.  Suddenly it goes quite so I go to look.  He’s left, leaving the front door open, and half my wall is stripped to the breeze block.  Angry email to my landlord with a picture.   He’s suppose to be back Monday morning at 9.

Thursday – Diabetes Clinic.  With Adam in tow.  Who was, as always, a star.  Except when the blood pressure cuff was ripped off my arm.  That scared him and made him cry.  Adding more Metphormin to my daily dose and see them in 6 months.

Friday – Washer guy shows up at 800.  By 9 he insists it’s fixed.  I ask him to let it run a bit longer but he insists it’s fixed and hauls ass.  By 915 washer was having the same fault.  Rang the repair company.  They ring the repair guy to get him back but he tells them he’s been gone for 40 minutes and can’t come back. I tell the repair company that’s bull.  They say too bad, but that he said to turn it off completely and unplug it, run a new cycle and it should work, but they’ll book in a repair visit for Monday morning.  So I did.  And it still doesn’t work.  So I haul 2 weeks of wash, in a duffel bag with wheels my mum left when she never returned in June and two Tesco bags, pushing Adam in his pram with one hand, up to the nearest launderette, in a hail storm.  3 hours and £20 later I’m home and the wash is done.  Of course, if it wasn’t for our service contract on the washer, it would have been about £200 later with no working washer as that was how much the repair guy said the new part and labour would have been without the contract.

This weekend can only be great, right?  RIGHT?

A Weekend In Review

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No, not the one I spent in Dublin.  I still haven’t written that one.  But I will. Promise.

Just an ordinary weekend Chez Fraser is what I mean.

Saturday:  Beautiful sunny day here in Belfast.  Just incredible for this time of year.  Not even all that cold, I went out in just a jumper over a t-shirt.  Took Adam for a walk at City Hall.  He walked all the way from one side of the lawn to the other, about the distance of a city block.  After that we went to Boots and Tesco.  In Tesco he fell asleep.  And stayed asleep until after Simon and I had lunch!  I’m liking this walking thing!

Sunday: Spent the morning just hanging around the house.  Adam and I had a bad nights sleep so after Simon woke up I took myself back to bed for a bit.  Then made Pancakes, with Aunt Jemima Mix my friend Lisa sent me, with bacon for lunch.  Then Simon took Adam out for a quick trip to the shops and another walk while I changed the sheets on all the beds in the house.

Not the most exciting life, perhaps, but it suits us.

And I am dreading when Adam makes friends and we have playdates.  Because, ya know, I don’t really like most other people.

Truly I don’t.

Mama and Adam’s Newest Adventure

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So I’ve been wanting to go to Connswater Shopping Centre for awhile, because there is a Really Really Big Tesco (TM) there, but was always a bit daunted by the distance. Until I realized it was only about half a mile further than the Tesco I go to now.

So I put Adam in his new stroller and headed off.  Simon was a bit iffy about it, as its not the best part of Belfast, but I realized as we walked along that so long as I wasn’t wearing my ‘I’m for a United Ireland’ t-shirt, I’d be okay.  NB: I don’t actually own such a t-shirt.  My point is that the area is heavy LOL with lamp-posts with pictures of the Queen and everything.  Simon says about 1 block to the left is the just the opposite.

Anyway, it was a very nice walk, mostly flat (as opposed to my other Tesco, which is mostly uphill the whole way) and with traffic lights almost every crossing (also unlike my other Tesco) and then I was there.  Mecca.  Okay, so its just a very nice shopping centre with a Really Really Big Tesco (TM) and a Dunnes and Boots and all sorts of places.  It was fab.

So Adam and I looked around Dunnes.  And then went and did the shopping in Really Really Big Tesco (TM).  I carried through with a plan I’d been thinking about for awhile, which was to fold the pushchair up and stick it in a trolley rather than try to carry a hand-basket and push the stroller.  Worked a treat, except that there was no safety strap in the trolley seat, so I tied him in with a string I had!

Adam loved it.  I forgot to take a picture, though.  Maybe next time.

However, since it was a Really Really Big Tesco (TM) and it was laid out differently from my usual Tesco (and why is that? Why can’t they all be laid out the same?) shopping took longer than usual.  Suddenly it was noon and I had a hungry, cranky boy on my hands.  I wasn’t feeling too uncranky myself, actually.

So what’s a Mama to do?  We went to the food court.  Where our choices were Chinese, Burger King, Subway or Chicken Cottage.  And I knew the one thing Adam *might* eat was chicken.  So Adam had his very first ever child’s meal.  Chicken and Chips.  He ate about one nugget and some chips.  I had some chicken as well.

And then we headed home.  And belly full of chips boy fell asleep in his pram about 10 minutes from the flat and stayed asleep for about an hour.

So it was a good adventure.  I was feeling guilty about the lunch until I spoke to Simon:

‘Forgive me Dada, for I have sinned.’  I said to him on the phone.

‘Oh?’ He replied

‘Adam had his first ever fast food lunch today.’

‘Oh.  Well he’s had bits of my Egg McMuffins when he’s been with me and I’ve had one.’

Guilt 100% gone.

Oh For F’s Sake…

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So, being responsible parents, when Adam was born Simon and I put certain financial strategies into place. One was to set up an ISA.  No problem, only an ISA can only accept a deposit of £250 or more at one time in the UK (no idea if this is true of the US).  My mom gives money for birthdays and Chanukkah that are to be put away for the child for their education.  Now we used his ‘welcome to the earth present’ to set up the ISA but needed a place to put these smaller amounts so they would gather a bit of interest and eventually be £250 to be added to the ISA.

So I looked on our bank’s website and decided on their eSaver account.  Its a total online account and you get a little extra interest because you never need to go into the bank.  Great, perfect for technophiles like Simon and I!

I started the process to set up this account just after we got back from the US, as my mom had given me the first of Adam’s gifts for Channukah.  So 1st week of January.  Please note that it is now 23rd February. And the account has finally been opened today.

First when I tried to apply online, my address was listed as wrong, but the form wouldn’t let me change it.  So I ring (phone call number 1) to get them to fix it.  They go through the security questions, I get one of them wrong, but they can’t tell me which one.   The guy on the phone actually said to me ‘I can put you through to the branch if there is someone there who can vouch for you?’  Is he serious? The only time I talk to a teller is when I have change to turn into bills.  They wouldn’t know me if I dropped dead in their lobby.  So into the branch I go.

The nice woman at the branch looks at the account and says everything is fine.  When I tell her I got a security question wrong but the phone guy couldn’t tell me which one, she actually rolled her eyes.  She made a note in the account that I came in with ID and sent me on my way.

Try again online.  Still has the wrong address in the form.  Phone call 2.  This time the woman tells me that it is my address that I got wrong.  What?!?  So trip 2 to the branch.

This time a different woman looks again and says ‘oh.  Your address and your husband’s address are listed differently.  You do live together?’ Um, yeah, for over 6 years now.  I do not live down the road from him, imagine that? So she changes it in her computer and sends me on my merry way.

Please note that at this point it has taken 2 trips to the branch and 2 phone calls to set up an account that is suppose to give you a little extra interest because you never have to deal with a human.

So I sit down to do it again online.  AHA! My address is right.  Wait, what’s this? Data error, please ring.  Oh FFS!  So I ring for the 3rd time.  Go through the security questions.  ‘Mrs Fraser, we have your husband’s birthday listed as 1979.’  Okay, I know I robbed the cradle a bit, but by 10 years?  That’s right, back into the branch with Simon and his birth certificate to prove that I only robbed the cradle by 5 years.  We’ve had this joint Current Account for 6 years and this has just come up? So much for banking security.

Bank contact count:  Calls 3. Trips to branch 3.

Finally manage to finish the entire form online and wait for my paperwork.  Paperwork arrives.  Uh oh.  Need proof of address.  Utility bill, nope all in Simon’s name.  Driver’s License? Nope don’t have one.  Anything on the list? Nope.  See note at bottom of page ‘if you have nothing on this list please ring.’  So I ring.  ‘You have nothing on the list?’ No.  Sorry, can’t open account.

So I place the paperwork on the shredding pile and say to Simon ‘guess we can’t open this.’  We are both a bit bewildered at this since we already have an account with them, which, when we opened it, we had to prove our address.  But that doesn’t count.

And then, the miracle occurred.  We received our Tax Credit Letter, with both of our names on it! Hurrah! An official letter from HM Revenue and Customs and its on The List!  I would like it noted here that at no time did HMR&C ever ask for proof of address, so how the bank can use that letter as proof of address is beyond me.

Anyway, I head into the bank last week with my passport and the letter.  And get told Simon and I have to come in together. :sigh:

So this past Saturday Simon and I finally had the time and nothing more urgent to do on a Saturday and we got the proof into the bank.

And yesterday I get an email ‘Congratulations, your eSaver is set up!  Please access it online the same way you do your Current Account!’

But its not there when I log on. :sigh:

I decide to give them 24 hours because sometimes these things happen.

Eh Violá!  This morning, it was there.  Only, there appeared to be no way to transfer from the Current Account to the eSaver…so I rang the bank.  Apparently a special form had to be filled out to allow us to transfer our own money from our Current Account to the eSaver.  It would be done tomorrow.

And then I was at Tesco when my mobile phone rang.  It was the bank.  So sorry for the confusion, your account has been open for so long that some how this debit feature was never set up.  Um, okay, but we pay standing orders from it all the time.  Yes ma’am but this part was not set up.  Now it is.

I get home. Eh Violá!  I transferred some money from our Current Account to the new eSaver.

So let’s recap.  To set up a savings account that was created specifically so that you get some extra interest for never bothering the bank:

Bank Visits: 5

Phone calls: 6 from me 1 to me

And almost 8 weeks to complete.  And probably 2 – 3 hours of my time.

That extra interest had better add up.