I blame it all on Blogger

What have I done today?

Fumed, that’s what I did … amongst other things.

Well, to start off Blogger went on the blink. At first I thought it was my connection but then I saw the notice BLOGGER IS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE accompanied by information that Blogger was read-only. Well, I didn’t read… what was the point if I couldn’t respond to posts? I can honestly say it threw me. For the first time I recognised my dependence on blogging. Wow, what a shock that was. Maybe I should think about getting a life?

So I went shopping, earlier than normal because of the setback with Blogger. The traffic wasn’t too bad considering the hour, but there were some awful drivers on the road. Why is it that on a dual carriageway some motorists insist on driving in the overtaking lane? Is it because they’re frightened of being overtaken themselves, or because they’re too lazy to turn the wheel and move over, or is it a selfish way of making sure others don’t get there first?

Since I am an excellent driver (koff koff) I have a great many complaints about drivers who don’t follow the highway code, those who don’t know how to make a right turn (or left, depending on where you live) which means cutting across traffic at an appropriate time. Most if not all don’t know how to angle their cars for a correct turn, most if not all happily cutting across a car waiting to come out of that particular road. Many times I’ve wondered how a driver has avoided stripping paint off the wing of my car.

Later on, in order to keep an appointment with my optician (you'll see the funny side of that as you read on) I had to negotiate a particularly awkward traffic roundabout. It’s a right turn all the way round which then merges with a parking lane. The trouble is the traffic coming from the only other road doesn’t realise that although little me is indicating to pull in on the left I am actually (legally) cutting in front of cars to get into the lane. Buses use that road,and what happens is: yes, they acknowledge my right of way but immediately hit my tail to follow me up – as they think – the road. Only, I’m not going up the flippin’ road, I’m pulling in to the left, to a legitimate designated parking area.

One mad bus driver put his foot on the pedal and zoomed after me. Jeez, I thought he was going to hit me. I zoomed into the parking space in front of another parked car and, guess what, I misjudged the angle. Poor guy sitting in the parked car must have wondered what had happened but he soon found out when he got out to check: paint stripped off all along the side of the car (his wife’s car actually) with mine showing barely a scratch. So now we have the insurance to deal with.

Then there’s the pedestrians! My second misfortune was seeing a young mum pushing a baby in a pram through fast moving traffic with no apparent thought for the child’s safety let alone her own. A speeding motorcyclist who was weaving in and out of the traffic just managed to stop when the pram appeared from nowhere. Ye Gods, they could all have been killed.

I didn’t realise it was Friday 13th.

When I got home I got stuck into finishing the six weeks of laundry provided by hubs after his Australian vacation. I’d tried doing it a bit at a time but that just meant the whole operation was hanging on. The promised rain having arrived, the sight of everything hanging round was too much so I thought it was time to get stuck in, so to speak. Thank goodness for drying machines.

In the afternoon I gave some thought to blogging … if ever it returns … and maybe changing my style. Running two blogs is becoming a bit laborious. A Mixed Bag should be what the name implies. The name suggests an assortment of subjects so a combination of stories, articles, and pictures should be more interesting for the reader and certainly for the compiler. My writing is suffering lately, by that I mean I’m running out of ideas. Therefore I must try and get a bit more enthusiasm without the chore of running two blogs.

I tried this once before and although the switch went smoothly I lost some blogging friends in the process. That’s what’s holding me back, really. I’d love to know your views on the idea.

Well, that’s an account of my day so far. It is 3.15 in the afternoon and Blogger is still out of commission. Perhaps I should go and play tiddlywinks with next door’s cat!