The Beast is Back…

I took delivery of my car yesterday, and not before time.  Just a week of not having it, and I did miss it.  The hire company Europcar were a right pain in the arse if I am honest.  My car was delivered to work, so as my insurance only covers me for my car, or a hire car whilst mine is being repaired then I could not legally drive both.  I called the hire company at 10:15 when the repair centre called to say that they had completed all the works including a full valet.  They said they were just carrying out a few last tests to ensure it is 100% safe they would deliver it on a transporter and should be with me in the next two hours.  My car arrived just after noon and I parked it up and transferred the dog’s bed and their water etc from the hire car.

2pm arrived and I had not heard from the hire company so I called them only to be told that they were sorting it out and would be there soon to collect it.  4pm arrives and nothing, so I called again and was told they were having trouble getting to me and may have to do it today.  I explained that the industrial area that I was in that day may not be safe for the car to be left, in all honesty, I could just drive it down the road to where the houses are and it would be okay there, but I decided that they had had enough time, so screw them.  I could also have left it in the compound, however, my friend who owns it said that it would be entirely on the heads of the hire company and not her.  They declined and said they would come back to me and asked if the car was at my home address.  This was now growing tiresome as I knew they were just fobbing me off, and using any excuse.  I told them that I had already given them the details at 10:15, and could play back the recording if they wanted.  4:50 pl came and no call, so again I called and told them that they either get it collected this evening, or it stays on the street as I have off-hired it and it was no longer my concern.  With a huff and puff he decided that he would come and collect it himself after he finishes work at 6pm, so I knew he would not be there till 7pm.  I told him I was going home and he was to call me 30 mins before he got there and I would drive back over with the keys as I had no intention of hanging about.

7:15 he arrived and took the keys and with a rather pissed off tone in his voice said thanks and off I went laughing to myself at his bad attitude.

Calm Achieved…

Yesterday’s chaos finally came to an end at 6pm when my hire car was delivered.  Not my first choice but I needed a large car, and this is what I got.  A Vauxhall Zafira Tourer SRI Turbo 7 Seater.  Enough room for us and the dogs and everything else we have with us when out and about, usually dog stuff as they can be high maintenance LOL.  Not the worst car, but it’s not my lovely X-Trail.  Drives well, and is very nippy, but that could be due to it being petrol and having a turbo.  My X-Trail is black and inside is all black and chrome and privacy glass and tinted front screen, so inside it is quite calm and low light, but the hire car has standard glass, and there’s bloody tones of the stuff.  My car has a double privacy glass retractable roof, and the hire one does not, and it still streams in more light than the sun can pump out.  One thing I cant get used to is the missing items I have use of every day like rain detection windscreen wipers, automatic light, touch button parking brake which disables when I go to pull away, the hire car is manual lights (when I eventually found them) manual windscreen wipers whos controls are backwards to all other cars, and a handbrake that I keep forgetting is there when I get in and go to pull away and the car does not move.  I am nitpicking really as it will get us all from A to B and I should only have it for a week or two.  I just miss the comfort and lazy modern man’s tech and gadgets I have in my car.

However, above all, yesterday is now in the distant past and all the car troubles can now stay there, in the past.

Bastards…

Last night my car alarm went off.  I got out of bed looked out the window to see nothing, the lights were not flashing and the alarm had stopped, so I thought nothing of it after several minutes looking out.  My car alarm has gone off in the past, and it was due to the air vent causing atmospheric changes in the car, yes it’s a little sensitive, to say the least.

This morning I got up and slowly got into my day, and about 9:30 am I decided to take the dogs, went to the back of the car opened the back to let them in and closed it.  M then said “Stop!  Look at the car” which I did, only to discover that some little shit had broken into it, smashed my door window, damaging the surround and stolen my satnav and all the cables.  Glass everywhere!

To say I am pissed off is an understatement, and if I knew who did it I would quite happily take a hammer to their head for all the damage they did.

At 9:45 the calls and messing about started.  I called the Police and went through everything with them and got my crime reference number.  The Police were a delight to deal with an he was very nice and agreed that we should be able to have snipers protecting our valuables.  Then I had to call my insurance and go through lots of things with them.  Next was to speak to the repair centre and arrange for my vehicle to be booked in.  Next RAC to get my vehicle collected on the back of a transporter and taken to the repair centre.  Then car hire, which is not as easy as you would think, trying to get a large car the same day almost seems impossible, however, I have had to go with a Vauxhall Zafira as this was the biggest I could get.  So far the car has been taken away, but will not be looked at until Monday at the earliest, and of course, they have called to take a deposit payment so they can start the repairs.  It is now 5 hours since my first call and I have been on and off the phone during the whole 5 hours and still trying to sort out the hire car.

Fingers crossed this is the last problem I have to endure or sweat to god I will end up killing someone.

Diet Change…

So, after our holiday I had managed to pile on 7 pounds and M managed to lose 2, how in hell that happened I do not know, I walked countless miles, swam in the Atlantic, ran about with the dogs, and generally never stopped from 5am each day.

We had decided to go Paleo after our holiday was over, so on Monday, we started.  I love paleo, it makes cutting out sugar and processed food easy.  I admit I do miss my coffee with full-fat milk and sugar in the morning, but in the same breath, I don’t miss it.  I think I miss the thought of the sweet richness that I have had for countless years.

We have done paleo before and managed to lose weight and ate so much.  But cut sugar and processed foods and you are bound to lose weight.  I want to lose fat, bulk up, build muscle and generally get fitter and with that healthier.  My previous diet was okay as I was calorie counting all the time, but in all honesty, I was still eating crap and too much sugar, as I love my sweets (candy), just within my calorie goal.

So far so good, I have had a moment when I really fancy something sweet, but then grab a piece of fruit to quash it.  I bought an electric spiralizer, and boy, what fun.  I decided to make a chicken stirfry and apart from chicken, garlic, fine green beans (grey area on this being paleo), chilli, green peppers, onions, and best of all, spiralized courgettes which added a different dimension to it rather than rice.  It was a success, and I intend to spiralize lots of veggies.  I think I will still include raw milk in my diet from time to time, that is whenever I get to the farm for it, and I was reading that some include the odd bit of fetta cheese as this being goats cheese is okay, but I am not too sure as yet.  I love my cheese, but am determined to keep to the basics and by that, I mean to stick to the rules of “what would a caveman eat”

I have tried to find magazines in the UK for paleo, and it really has not caught on so far, if anyone knows of one, please let me know.  I have found many American publications, which are okay, but they have lots of ingredients that you cannot get here.  My friend Anna has been paleo for about 6/7 years now, and I first had a go 5 years back, and loved it, but missed my milk and in the end, the cake cravings were too much.  There was little or no information about the diet, and lots of articles really contradicted each other which was not helpful at all.  The web seems alive now with paleo and primal diet information and lots of the shops are starting to cater for it.  I now get paleo bars from a local supermarket which are mainly dates but have various flavours and they satisfy the sweet need in the diet.  I have eaten these for some time, but now they will be a staple.  Cakes will not be a problem either as I have a few recipe books on my Kindle that have lots of lovely cake and muffin recipes to keep me going. YAY!

I have never drunk so much water since starting.  Each day I have consumed about 4 litres rather than my usual 10-15 cups of coffee and tea.  Over the weekend we bought lots of bad things to eat, and many I never got round to eating as I felt bloated and really not in the mood for stuffing my face, so those treats are still in the cupboard.  Let’s see if they reach the expiry date first or my temptation and willpower give way.

I hope that this lasts and I don’t go back to calorie counting.

Holiday Over…

Well, it is back to reality now from our lovely stay in Exmoor.  Here are a few final photos

The Farm Yard from our cottage door, taken at 6am

Exmoor Ponies, rarer than the Giant Panda

Dunster Castle

The Atlantic – ready for surfing

M taking photos whilst I drive (over 1300 miles)