Some things never change! Or do they? British summers are notorious for being awful and we usually shrug our shoulders while joking about it. However, the weather this Summer has been unusual even for us! The north of England has being subject to torrential rain that has left at least four people dead and there is more on the way.

And if torrential rain isn’t bad enough - we’ve had SNOW in the north of Scotland. Snow?! It’s nearly July! I still have my thicker quilt on the bed and some days I have to wear my winter coat because the rain is so heavy and the wind is so cold.

The paperwork for the caravan is all sorted out so I’m going to Ayrshire this weekend to see it. I’m in the mood for acting like a tourist so I’m hoping there will be a castle visit in my future. Note to self: charge up the camera and clear the memory card.

I’m not having a good time with gadgets lately and I’m scared to touch my iPod in case it catches the curse. My external DVD Rom packed in at the weekend so I couldn’t do any of the new screen caps for MCO. Why do I need an external DVD Rom you may well ask? My laptop is currently set on R1 (I only have one change left before it locks permanently) and I also need a drive capable of reading R2. See? The joys of region coding…

Speaking of which, I ordered S3 of The 4400 on R1 and had to fork out an extra £12 custom fees. Just to explain: when you buy R1 DVDs you are technically “importing” them into the country - hence the fees. Now, not every package is examined and it’s just your pot luck if it happens to you. I lost out this time. I really can’t complain though because I buy R1 discs a lot and this is the first time I’ve ever had to pay the custom fees. But, still, £12! I think I’m gonna keep ordering them from Amazon though because if you mark them as a gift and keep the price off the front of the package, you have a much better chance of not incurring extra charges.

I got a free gift with my DVD RW drive - there was a screwdriver inside the box! Bet some poor guy is scratching his head somewhere, wondering what the hell he did with that screwdriver!

Isn’t about time we stopped all this political correctness nonsense? I’ve written about this very subject before in regard to how people can’t even use the word “black” nowadays in relation to colours. So, next time you get out that fashion essential: the little black dress - remember to call it something else unless you want to offend ethnic minorities.

The latest insane notion relates to the National Trust’s desire not to offend the English by re-writing Scottish history! Excuse me?! According to the newspapers this morning, the NT want to emphasise the Battle of Bannockburn was a battle between two opposing kings rather than two opposing countries. Have you ever heard anything more ridiculous? The Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 was one of our country’s most significant battles, freeing us from decades of English tyranny and paving the way for a new, independent Scotland.

Do the NT even care about how insulting this is to the Scottish nation? Oh, but then I’m forgetting, we aren’t supposed to feel proud about our heritage. I can’t wait to see how the history of World War II is re-written so as not to offend the Nazis.

The big news is my parents have decided to buy a caravan near Ayrshire which is on the west coast of Scotland. The caravan park is situated in a Haven Holiday resort which specialises in holidays for families and my mum deliberately chose it so the kids would be safe. They’ve had holidays there before and enjoyed them. The good news for me is there are loads of castles and historical sites nearby that I’ve never visited before which is so much more interesting than the beach. It’s also near Arran and Mull which is exciting because I haven’t visited those either. It’s close enough for them to spend every weekend there if they chose but I certainly won’t be doing that - no internet.

We waved goodbye to another member of staff today who has transferred to another court after being with us for two years. She’s had such a hard time on a personal level after losing her husband and both parents within months of each other. It seemed so unfair but I think we were all amazed at how well she managed to cope with everything afterwards. She’s only a little thing but she is so strong; I’m not sure I could’ve coped half as well. It really puts a lot of things into perspective when you see someone going through a situation like that and it makes you take a long, hard look at your own priorities.

My own family has taken quite a beating over the past few months and it looks like I’m going to have to watch my favourite uncle slowly lose himself as his memory deteriorates further. Life can be so cruel to those who deserve so much more. I’m learning to be grateful for the things I do have and to accept that some things may be forever out of reach. It doesn’t mean I’ve given up trying though - where would the fun be in that? I’m just more realistic about it all.

Oh, and I love my Nintendo almost as much as my iPod….

I finally got my letter from Personnel confirming I had been successful in my application for the job at Mission Control but no starting date as yet. It doesn’t really matter because I’m already doing the job and they owe me back pay for my temporary promotion. Everything seems to be so slow at head office these days and the temporary evacuation hasn’t helped matters. We now need two new members of staff in our dept and the newbies won’t start in time to help us over the Summer when more than half the workforce is off at the same time. I swear you need a qualification in stupidity to become a senior manager. How else can you explain it? We’ve been really struggling this week and I’ve been so tired at night. I’m really not looking forward to the struggle over the next few weeks.

I hate to admit this but I think buying the Nintendo DS was a bad idea because I’m obsessed with the darn thing. I’ve been playing Hotel Dusk every night before going to sleep and before I know it the time has gotten away from me. I was so tired last night, I had to close it without saving because I wasn’t paying attention and had no clue what I was supposed to be doing in that particular chapter. Goodness knows what I’ll be like when they finally release all those Sims games they are promising for this year.

I’m also having a bit of a clear out with my DVD boxsets and gotten rid of a few on eBay and Amazon Market. I think my mum is getting fed up traipsing to the post office for me. Oooops! All that extra space means I have room for new ones!

I’m happy to note things are starting to improve at my work and certain people have been told a few home truths. New plans are being introduced to make sure EVERYONE is doing their fair share, including new rotas so the same people are not always being left to carry the workload. There’s a lot of grumbling going on and a few words were exchanged but I think the point has been made. It really doesn’t affect me that much anymore since I’ve moved on but I’m still part of that team. I had so much work to do today it wasn’t even funny since I was covering for someone on holiday but I set myself a challenge to have each task done by a certain time and beat every one of those goals. Now, I just need to get through the next three days the same way.