Saving €100 - or not!

The traffic on Thursday to get to work was just awful (for a change)). We have to go through a motorway toll and the border of course to get to work, and usually it is the border where the tail-back occurs, but not this time. My heart just sank when I saw "traffic jam 7 km" flashing overhead. It turned out it was the toll that was the cause of it - or should I say the volume of traffic at the toll. There must be eight different booths you can go through but for some reason the number of vehicles was horrendous on Thursday morning. Once we got to the border it was fine though. I can't figure it out so I guess you just have to go with the flow.

Then on the bus from the border I had the "good" fortune to end up sitting next to someone who had brought his breakfast to eat on the bus. I have to admit this still shocks me as (I'm pretty sure) eating is not allowed on the bus in the UK. I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure that still applies. It probably goes back to the days of discarded fish and chip newspaper wrapping being strewn around willy-nilly. Not that Swiss buses are dirty though - quite the opposite in fact - but I still can't get used to the idea of somebody ploughing through their breakfast on the bus. Add to that I'm pretty sure it was tuna and egg mayonnaise sandwich so pardon me while I throw up.  Yuck.

On Friday we had a helluva snow storm, I mean, it was really bucketing down so as I had finished my work my boss told me to leave early. Now the journey to and from work is bad enough under normal circumstances but with the snow and the arrival of the next "zone" of skiers/holiday-makers, traffic was expected to be pretty rough, and it didn't disappoint. The good thing, I suppose, is that since the weather was so rough people had to drive more carefully. That being said, there was an accident right next to me when I finally made it into my little town, which involved some poor bugger on a driving lesson - not that he was the cause of the accident. A white truck behind him couldn't stop and ended up causing a three-car fender bender, but luckily no-one was hurt and (even more luckily) I wasn't caught up in it!

Then on Saturday, after getting the shopping in, I decided to take a couple of strimmers/weed-whackers down to our local DIY store to see if I could get them overhauled. My ex had two of them (what the hell for I don't know as he didn't have a garden and couldn't be buggered to use them on the five rose bushes that he did have). Anyway, I knew these cost over €250 each as he never bought anything cheap (and never looked after anything either but that's by the way), so I thought if I could get them overhauled I might be able to sell them with spring on the way as they are both too heavy for me. Unfortunately, they had been so neglected that they would easily have cost over €100 each to repair so frankly I thought it just wasn't worth the time and effort. Then I had the bright idea to put them on Freecycle to see if anyone had the skill and/or the inclination to repair them. But then, an even bigger inspiration - why not just take them to the tip, let the guys there know that they were still repairable and do without the hassle of getting rid of them on Freecycle. It really galls me to "throw away" this kind of stuff since they were bought when the ex still lived at home so effectively I paid for them but you know what, life's too short so now I have dropped them off at the tip and I guess someone might be able to get some use out of them. On top of that it's a saving in time and effort for me. Out of sight out of mind, as they say.

Fat Fighters wasn't wonderful on Wednesday but as I had just come back from Wales and had made no effort to follow "the Plan" while I was there I was surprised to actually have lost a few hundred grams rather than put any on. We shall see what tomorrow holds I guess.

On Saturday it was again bucketing down and as I wandered over to the market I saw and old lady struggling with what really was just a bunch of metal spikes that were trying to pass for an umbrella. I don't know what came over me but I walked over to her and offered her my umbrella, on the grounds that I had another three in my car (all of which I inherited from my ex of course). Well you would have thought I had given her the world, she was so thrilled. She then insisted on inviting me for coffee in the little café opposite and promptly told the world and his uncle what I had done. I was cringing with embarrassment by that time, of course, but I got a big kiss on the cheek from her and a promise to invite me for coffee next time she sees me. It's funny how little it can take to make someone's day isn't it?