Monday 11th Feb

Just to let you know the driving trauma (well for me at least) continued this weekend, as I sat in the car whilst my eldest with L plates attached drove me around, albeit in a supposedly safe environment. The key moment was when the car was headed straight at a cemented in litter bin and I leant across to steer car away from it, whilst the teenager fought me it seemed, to aim straight at the bin. By judicious use of the handbrake we managed to avoid the bin, but the manoeuvre certainly did wonders for my adrenaline levels and the volume of my voice. Too many more incidents like that and Mrs P will have to take over Learner Driver duties.

I started the day with a shave. Nothing unusual in that you would think, except that as an economising measure, I’ve recently moved to using a single blade razor. I bought a hundred blades for £8 off the internet, a handle for £5, and a soapstick and brush for another £5. So in theory I have a year’s shaving for under £20, and I’m living in the 1950’s. It seems a great idea in principle when compared against the cost of safety razors and foam. However, they are called safety razors for a reason. I was changing to a new blade this morning and wasn’t paying attention when tightening the handle, and managed to slice open my finger, cue copious amounts of blood. Having wrapped my finger in a wash cloth to stem the bleeding I set about quickly shaving, before fixing up my finger. Only half way through shaving I realised I hadn’t secured the handle properly, and little patches of blood were appearing on my face and dripping off my chin. Added to my finger, this all made for a very convincing homemade impersonation of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Still I’m saving money this way I keep telling myself.

Once I was patched up Mrs P and I headed out to the supermarket. Now a cheaper brand supermarket has opened next door to our usual one, and like many people I suspect we’ve started to pick certain branded staples up there, before going into our normal destination. Though I’m still not convinced we actually spend less overall on the shopping by going to more places. One rule I have noticed that does seem to apply in supermarkets, is what I think of as a law of diminishing interaction, that is to say,” The cheaper the supermarket, the fewer the staff and the quicker the checkouts.”Low cost supermarket checkout staff are far quicker than those at the mid and high end, and you don’t get any aimless chit chat, about holidays and weekends, while you’re trying to pack your bags. The benefits of doing the weekly shop with Mrs P are amongst others, the social interaction, it really is amazing who you meet, then she gets a free trolley pusher, and I don’t have to worry I’ve bought the wrong thing, and it cuts down on impulse purchases, as both of us need to agree on something to buy it if it’s not on the list. We could shop online, but where’s the fun in that, and if we did it would just mean we’d have to find something else to do together on a Monday. Apart of course from patching me up with a first aid kit.

Yours thinking of growing a beard (as if Mrs P would let me, she's not a fan!)

Jay