Sunday 30 October 2011

James fixed it for Ally

It has been a pleasant weekend. I got my hair cut on Saturday and didn't hate the experience or the result too much, then I met James for lunch at Prezzo. James has designed a spreadsheet for me where I can record my spending and really know what is in my account; it incorporates all the things I spend every month like music lessons, school fees, contact lenses and many more! The beauty of this is that I can now clearly see what is still to come off my account, whereas if I just look at my balance online it gives me a false optimism. It is going to be very helpful now that I am paid every four weeks, because that has been confusing me - I used to get paid on the last Thursday of every month and then all my standing orders would come off on the 1st of the next month, which would only be a few days away so I knew I would definitely still have money to cover them. With the four weekly pay I find it harder to plan because pay day changes each month. Anyway, it's not like me to get excited over finances but I can see that this spreadsheet is going to help me a lot.
We went over to Heather and Ewan's for a curry in the evening and had a great time; by now they will have arrived in Madrid for their holiday. I'd love to go there one day; James will coincidentally be there this week on business! I would especially like to visit the Prado museum to see the Velazquez paintings among others. 
This morning James decided that we would go to Ikea to buy bookcases for Alasdair; he was delighted because he has been nagging us about getting them for ages. He has already constructed them with much noise and hammering and started to fill them. Then the four of us had a blowy walk at Largs, from Nardini's to the Pencil and marina and back again. The highlight of the evening was watching an episode of the first series of Bergerac with Grandma so that we could look out for places we visited in Jersey! It was good fun, especially as the series is now thirty years old. The island looks very much the same apart from the airport buildings and St Helier. And the plot wasn't too bad either. 
Finally farewell to Sir Jimmy Savile who died yesterday at the age of 84. I loved the television programme Jim'll Fix It in the 1970s and although I always felt that there was something strange and a bit creepy about him, however he seems to have been an eccentric but genuinely well-meaning person who raised a lot of money for charity. James and I once spotted him walking near his house at Glencoe; with the tracksuit and wild hair it was unmistakably him! 

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