Returning my Tesco fish fingers, just to be on the safe side, they may contain Seahorse.

Well, it is cold.  And the kids have been loving it.  Today, before they went to school, I took them into the back garden and they had a go on the sleighs that they had been given from Father Christmas.  They were hoping that I would use them to go to school, but while it has snowed, it has also melted, and people have been walking about on it.  In our garden though, there was enough to pull them about with.  Then, it was a walk to school.  And of course, they got to throw snowballs at me.  My daughter got me with a head shot!  After school, it was a trip to swim.  We forgot to take the floats in with us and only realised once we had all showered.  A bit too late, but there is a small pool and we took the kids into that.  And my daughter swam!  They had great fun and my daughter was so pleased with herself for what she did.  Not to mention how proud we were.

Anyway, time to go as I want to know how Arsenal are going to do in the FA cup replay.  A shame that we lost to Man 5hitty but then out central defence should remember that they are playing football, not rugby!

If the government know that over 5 billion is being defrauded by benefit cheats, then, if they don't know who they are, how did they know they're cheating?

Well, the government are having a go at those on benefits.  Saying how people should work, how those on benefits are getting increase in payments greater than wage rises.  I think that they are wrong about this.  When it comes to wage rises not keeping up with benefit payments, the answer is simple, people are not being paid enough.  At the moment, the benefit system is working to allow employers to keep wages down.  Many argue that people should be paid not the minimum wage, but instead a living wage.  There are arguments about finding ways to get people to work, arguments about how much people should be paid and arguments about if those on benefits deserve them or not.

Me, I have a view on this, one based on my own background.  When younger, my mother was working and at times, I would need to be going to school on free school meals.  We were a single parent family and that was due to domestic violence.  So when those on the right have a go at those on benefits as well as issues to do with marriage breakups and family values, I get annoyed.  In my work, I see loads of people working and working hard and still are needing benefits.  I do see some who play the system, but they are few and far between.  My mother was one of those who worked hard, made sacrifices to bring up me and my siblings, one who provided for her family and worked to help others.  And she is not alone in this.  And with regards to what the Tories have planned, these changes WILL hurt those in work, hurting those who are not well off and will cause hardship to so many people.  HMRC who have lost jobs (thanks to cuts) and now are not able to tell loads of people that they will not be eligible for child benefit.  In 2004 overpayments were made and had to be paid back.  That affected too many people, and this is worse as more will be affected and this could have been avoided in so many ways.

Thanks to the sacrifices my mother made and thanks to the grace of God, I am smart and have gained from an education, the education she worked for me to have.  Not everyone is as lucky as I am to have been able to get a degree, or to have the genes that make someone smarter.  (Being smarter is not better, just different, like being taller, slimmer, fitter etc.)  And that means that when I work harder, I earn more.  Not everyone is that lucky.  I remember seeing Lowestoft, with its high unemployment rates, and the local use of immigrant labour for low paid seasonal work.  People there would literally find it not worth the money to work as they would lose out more.  Instead employers would bring in workers from abroad to work instead.  So if there are to be changes to make things easier for those in work to work, then I am in favour of a very controversial policy.  A citizens income.  That way, people can work as hard as they like to earn money, i.e. those working will earm more than those who are not working.  Employers can keep wages competitive in a global economy and hard work and effort is rewarded.     

"Please scream as loud as you possibly can," says the dentist to his patient. "The waiting room's full and the football's on in ten minutes."

 

Well, the screaming is what my kids have been doing today. My wife, since her trip to a mud pit has not been well and has been resting this morning, which means that they have felt the need to scream, and scream, and scream.  That and not eat the lunch that she has made for us.  Being a glutton is not a problem for either of them.

Earlier in the week, my wife took the kids to the Discovery Centre in Braintree.  As anyone in the UK knows, it has been raining and raining.  She thought that it would be inside.  It was not.  There were lots of bark chips about and things for kids to play on.  The only problem was that the bark chips had been trodden into the mud.  Walking down one hill with the kids she came to a puddle.  She got my daughter to jump across.  My son decided to as well, but while holding the hand of my wife and not telling her he was going to do this.  One slip later, and my wife was in the mud.  Getting up required her to put her hands in the mud, and my son, refused to hold her hand as it was caked in mud.  Her coat, leggings and boots were covered.  He decided then that he wanted to go home.  The sensibile decision was to go to the toilets to try to wash some mud off.  Fifteen minutes of washing in the toilets there, things were a bit better.  Needless to say, it was a memorable trip for my wife and the kids.  I am glad that I was at work instead!

Anyway, take care all.

My mate asked, "What do you know about 'the Seven Deadly Sins'? "Not much, I tried sloth once and couldn't be bothered with the rest."

Every now and then I think that I am in the wrong job. I think that I should be earning more and that if I had done something like work in the city, that I would be earning more.  But I forget, that more money does not mean that you would be happy.  That and the issue that I would not survive in the city (assuming that I would be smart enough to work there), and that I love my job.  Although I make a very small difference with my job when it comes to people, it is a difference, and I think that it is a good one.  Not only that, but I have to be grateful for what I have.  And while it is natural to want more, I should be grateful for what I have, for things could be a lot worse, and to be fair, when I really look at what I have with my children and my wife, I am very, very lucky.

2013 Bet the Mayan's did not see that one coming.

Well, it is 2013. And I hope it starts out better than last year.  Saying that, last year was not terrible.  It was interesting and I think that it ended well, especially the drinks last night.  I am still a bit fragile, but it was a very good night.  We had some friends round, the kids (ours and theirs) watched a film and my wife cooked, and cooked and cooked.  To say that there was food left over, would be an understatement, but at least that means that she will not have to cook for the rest of the week!

So, after waking late today to the sounds of the kids making loads of noise as they were playing, we finally got out of bed, fed and watered them (and ourselves) and since then have been pottering about. My wife at present is making yet more food, the kids are playing with the various toys they had got for Christmas and I took them out earlier, my daughter on her bike and my son on his scooter.  Just a few more hours until they are in bed, with me soon to follow!

Well, Happy New Year everyone!