Enlightened Automatic-Only Mind verses Manual UK Drones

Those fortunate few who bore witness to my mini freak out yesterday will know that I now have a car for the very first time in my 26 years on this green and pleasant land.

Today is the second day of my car ownership and I still have yet to drive the damn thing. What I did do today however was wash, wax, T-Cut, buff, spritz, more buff - some hose action also went down. My main concern is driving. As I explained yesterday, I haven't actually driven since my test back in 2007. Did I mention it was my fourth time too? No, probably not. It's not the most thing I'm proud of to be honest; I learnt to drive automatic, not manual, automatic.

The UK on the whole seems to have an issue with people who have learnt to drive and can only drive this sort of transmission. They turn their nose's up. They wonder what your problem and why it is that you can't handle a manual car. I don't obviously, but a lot of others do. In the US, I know most people drive my kind of transmission: it's a simple, concise way of driving. There are no distractions with gear changes or clutch control, which by the way I most obviously sucked at. I really do not see the problem.  Maybe someone could shed some light on it one day? All I care about is getting to my destination, be that home, work, shopping - wherever.

Many argue that they want to "drive" the car; "feel" the car. Who the duck cares!? Unless your racing in some exotic and glamorous Formula One circuit - where knowing how the car and engine feel is pretty important - why would anyone on their way to the shops need to know how the car feels? If it's gonna break down, more often than not you don't know it's coming otherwise you'd have taken it to a frickin' garage to get sorted! Driving manual doesn't give the gift of seeing the future, so when your manual car goes kaput, you're as much in the dark as me. The added bonus for me is: I don't have to concern my little automatic-only brain over having to get my gearbox changed because I don't have one. I see it as one less thing to go wrong, one less thing to spend my money on, giving me more cash for more important things like pretty shoes, dresses and everything else.

Here We Go! Academy Awards 2010

Academy Awards 2010. It is time.

Drink? Check. Canapes? Check.

As I mentioned before, I've booked tomorrow off from work to be able to watch and enjoy the Oscars for 2010. I have attempted to watch the Academy Awards once before at Uni and failed miserably. I was asleep after three awards had been given out.

Ok, so here in the UK I'm watching Sky One coverage of the Oscars and I'll be honest, my eyes are drooping. I seem to recall this is what happended before - Arg! Dissapointing.

Crap Magnet Of Crapston Town, Crapito.

I vowed that I would never complain about work on this blog. Who wants to hear about someone else's bad day at work? No one. Even the most sympathetic ear doesn't really want to listen to you blather on about your awful day at work. However...

Most people only go to work because they have to, most loathe it and start clock watching at around 3pm waiting for 5.30pm to chug along, in order to jump ship for the day.

As I naughtily sit here in the office taping away, I ponder, I am a shit magnet?

Do snow clouds have an active concious?

Just a quickie to report that my prediction came true. When I woke this morning, the world had not ended and we didn't have snow.

The fear that had been pumped into the concious of every Dorset dwelling resident by local and national press was a pointless waste of time. They obviously enjoy the drama as it bumps up newspaper sales and viewing figures. I wonder if the snow clouds saw how much panic, distress and longing they'd caused and thought to teach us a lesson?!

The snow filled clouds completely bypassed us overnight. And while we did have a mini-blizzard just before lunchtime - which is admitedly still on the ground - it's been plain sailing since then. In short, just rubbish.  

Typical British-weather panic. We should know better by now.

Manic Snow Panic = Giant Damp Squib

So it would seem we have stumbled into Siberian and Russian territory with sheer and utter blind, British panic as the cold front sweeps across the Southern coast of the UK.

News broadcasters say we should brace ourseleves for the heaviest snowfall in living memory - yet as I look out of my window this very second, all I see is wet slush on the pavements which will basically make walking to work rarther perilous tomorrow.

With the news and what seems to be a nationwide case of Chinese Whispers, it turns out that the Apocolypse of all things white, wet and cold has arrived! Excuse my sarcasm but, I have a sneaky suspicion that I will indeed wake in the morning and yes we will all survive to live another, albeit, cold day.

I'm not complaing about the weather at all, in fact I like the fact that you actually know it's the Winter season. What I hate is the way the UK press and it's people like to obsess about it; the way the news rams it down our throats in order to  detract our attention from actual newsworthy topics. Hell yeah it's different, the idea of having actual white stuff so deep that we can't leave the house is thrilling. We don't get Snow Days here and to have a genuine reason not to show up for work is amazing.

My cynical, unoptimistic side however tells me that this manic snow panic will turn out to be a giant damp squib. I believe it's unlikely that much, if any, snow will settle where I live and we will be literally left out in the cold with no snow and no excuse not to get to work on time.

New Year, New Start... how unoriginal

I rang 2010 in without champagne, whatching Jools Holland at a friend's flat after devouring £50 worth of Chinese takeaway (split between four people I should add), and that was fine by me. We were home by 12:45am, which goes to show how quickly we were able to order a taxi and have us driven back to our place across town. Passing though Bournemouth town centre, it could have been mistaken for early doors on a random Saturday night. It was so quiet. Eerily quiet. The sound of money being scrimped and saved echoed all around.

The powers that be say 2010 will be tough for us all. The first year of a new decade has little going for it, with limited prospects of anything financially related getting better. We even have a General Election to look forward to, most people however are tired of listening to politicians, their ideologies and excuses.

So the way I see it is this; we only have ourselves to rely on here. I have to make things happen for myself. It will not come to me. I will have to seek whatever it is I'm looking for myself, I'm not looking for handouts or to be looked after, I have to make it happen.

Wish me luck... you too.