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Monday 30 July 2012

Lunch Time Follies


You know lunch is gonna be great when you can open your desk drawer and see pizza leftovers that your boyfriend wrapped up for you! Yummerz


After my busy busy weekend involving a BBQ, me being forced to go to club (I'm far too uncool and homely to enjoy clubs) and winning an epic game of operation with friends, I spent my relaxing lunch break today munching pizza and spending some vouchers I got from work. I ordered a new book: The Royal Marsden Hospital Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures that should hopefully be helpful in my nursing degree - and if it isnt it looks suitably large and heavy to be an fly killer.


Back to work!


Wednesday 25 July 2012

You Know You're Bored When You Wind Up Africans...

 
Do you ever get junk mail for lucrative bank transactions in Africa like this?

Dear friend,

I hope that you will not expose or betray this trust that I am about to impose on you. I decided to contact you to help me actualise this business for the mutual benefit of both our families. My name is Mr Absolon Acelet the Auditing and Accounting section manager in Bank of Africa Burkina Faso, there is one of our customers who have made fixed deposit of sum of ($8.2)million for 7 years and upon maturity; I sent the notification to his address, but no response. After few months, we sent a reminder and finally we discovered from his business partner that he died after a brief illness in his country. We tried everything humanly possible to locate his relatives or family, but all efforts failed. The deposit is still intact with my bank and the interest is being paid into the principal sum at the end of each year.

If the fund remains in the account for more months, the fund will be confiscated and transferred into the treasury of the Government as unclaimed funds. This is why I contact you for joining hands with the honesty and truth to ensure that the fund is transferred into your bank account, a bank account anywhere in the world can help the transfer. All that is required of you is to contact my bank with the information I will send you as the next of kin or a business associate of the depositor with this system the fund will be paid into a bank account you will provide to the bank. To be honest with you, this is totally legal and 100% risk free.

But the secret must remain between you and me, I have worked with this bank for many years and I know all the secrets and I have carefully mapped out my perfect strategies to handle this operation successfully. The depositor is my close friend before his death that is the main reason why I'm the only one working at the bank here that knows much about the existence of this fund and the secrets and the depositor. We will also use some part of the funds to help the orphanage and less privileged children in the world.

Please keep this proposal as a secret between us and delete it immediately in your mail box if you are not interested.
But if you are interested give me an answer immediately.

I await your response.

Mr Absolon Acelet.

Do you ever respond? I decided I would...

Dear Mr Acelet,

How nice that you have contacted me as your friend but I am very confused as to why you did not email me from your work email at the Bank of Africa Burkina Faso? No doubt to keep the secrecy - a good plan.

It would indeed be a shame for all that money to enter into the hands of the fat cat government of Burkina Faso, I hear your streets are paved with gold despite the lies that Wikipedia tells me of you having one of the lowest GDP per capita figures in the world.

It is very unfortunate that you have not been able to contact your banking client and that you have been unable to contact his relatives despite trying everything humanely possible, but how fortunate you have managed to contact me instead, your pal.

Your secret is safe with me friend and I look forward to your carefully mapped out strategy and to your supplying your bank details so that we can get your proposal under way.

Yours with honesty and truth

Your friend.

The response was a tad generic...

Dear friend,

Thank you for your response and I am giving you a comprehensive detail of this transaction with the hope to clarify you better. I am contacting you to assist me to secure this fund in your bank account based on a practical fate. I have not seen you for the first time nor know much about you. I contacted you on trust, believing that you will not let me down or run away with this fund at the end. As a matter of fact I need your assistance to make this transaction. I am very confident about its successful accomplishment as it is at my place of work. I have been working in the bank for so many years and will not like any blackmail or a defile of my image and reputation. So I would advise you to keep this transaction as top-secret until this fund is transferred into your bank account.

All that will be required of you is to contact my bank as the next of kin to our late customer and with my position the bank will approve you as the next of kin and transferred the fund to you as the true inheritor. I also want you to understand that this transaction is 100% risk free as far as am concern. I am here to guide you with all the necessary information’s to ensure a smooth and successful transfer of this fund to you. This transaction will not last more than 14 bank working days in as much as you will be working towards my directives. I know very well that you might be weary of the fact that you are not in any way related to the deceased man but according to the laws in Burkina Faso one must not be a relative to the deceased in order to inherit his/her asset, having taken note of this laws I have decided to present you to my bank as a business associate to the deceased which you know that somebody's business associate can come from any part of the world so it doesn't matter your origin. 

I will make sure anything with regards to the transfer is deleted from the bank's files immediately the fund hit your bank account. You should not have any fears as I have checked everything before deciding to engage on the transfer. Following the discovery of this account and the bank's recommendation confiscate the fund to the apex bank as unclaimed bills, warranted my search for an honest person to partner with me for the claim. The total sum will be shared as follows: 50% for me, 40% for you, while 10% shall be for orphanage and less privileged. 

If this proposal is acceptable by you, kindly confirm the above information through this my private email and further communication should be through this email only, I will guide you on how to contact my bank for the transfer.

1) Your full name.
2) Phone, fax and mobile.
3) Company name, position and address.
4) Profession, age and marital status.

I am waiting for your response. 

 Sincerely

Mr Absolon Acelet.

But I was enjoying my amusement....

 Dear Mr Acelet,

 Be assured that I shall treat this transaction as top secret. You have asked me to contact your bank but have not provided contact details, may I have them please?  

I'm not sure I'm happy about the 10% of my share going to orphans and the less privileged, I think that should come out of your share as it was your idea and the split should be 50% for me, 10% for the orphans and 40% for you. I think you need to learn to not be greedy but I am willing to overlook this for now. 

1) My name is full is Edwina Mary Wafflewhip
2) I do not have a fax number but as you have kindly assured me you will only communicate over email I trust you do not need any of my phone numbers
3) I work for Slugs Incorporated, I am the CEO
4) As mentioned I am the CEO of Slugs Incorporated, I am 52 and single (and looking) 

Sincerest regards 

Edwina Wafflewhip

 PS - I have retitled the subject of this email to "Elderflower Cordial" to throw the authorities of the scent!!

I have too much time on my hands this week....
 

Monday 23 July 2012

Heavy Petting

The boyfriend fancied a look in Currys the other day so whilst he did that I had a look round Jollyes Petfood Superstore - it was awesome!! Look, they had chickens!! I really wanted one (four)


So then I had a little wander round, found a sleepy rat


Budgies!


Some sort of gerbil type thing really enjoying it's wheel


Quite a lot of fishies


A few bunnies


The best was the chickens though. I did eventually make it to the cat aisle and found this for my little fur baby, best £2.50 I ever spent. My cat gets bored of toys so quickly but he loves them. They're called Incredibubbles and they're peach flavour (who ever knew cats liked peach?) and they take a while to pop but they're not toxic so kitty was in his element chasing and attacking them like a mad thing. Jolly good I say. 

Sunday 22 July 2012

Thanks Mum!

My mummy dearest sent the boyfriend and I an M & S voucher as a treat for our recent move. Here's all the goodies we got.....

Garlic bread


A chargrilled vegetable pasta melt (errr... it has vegetables in it, that means it's healthy...ish)


A side salad (definite healthy points!)


Profiterole mousses (maybe not quite so many healthy points...)


And some pear cider... which I was forced to buy to be patriotic because they have union jacks on


Yummerz, thanks Mum!

Saturday 21 July 2012

Summer Loving

Ahhhhh the weekend already, my work had a summer party last night (in the rain!!) and our team won, checkout the prize!


And then after a very long wait for the bus and bus ride home (one and a half hours - ugh) because I no longer live in the city, I got greeted by this little monster, waiting up for me.... hmmm....


At least it's not raining today..... yet

Thursday 19 July 2012

A Different Walk

The boyfriend, kitty and I moved house last weekend and so now in the morning there's no more walks to work past Edith Cavell.


Also, I got athlete's foot on my hand..... sigh....!

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Sooooooooo Ugly

I thought I'd be a good little student and purchase some sensible shoes suitable for nursing placements before actually starting placements so there wasn't the inevitable last minute rush. They have to be flat (obviously), black, cover your whole foot and wipeable would really be best! A friend of mine started her degree earlier this year and recommended a pair that most people have and then I double checked on some nursing forums... yup most people really do have them.... ugh they're sooooo hideously ugly.


And remember this is the photo making them look nice, they're even worse on me! But are they comfy? You know it! What an old lady I am.

Sunday 8 July 2012

ENEMY!!!!

We have new neighbours - not that it matters because we're moving next weekend. But the neighbours have a tiny, minuscule Siamese cat... who HATES our pussy cat. We only noticed when he decided he'd come into our kitchen and start tucking into pussycat's food, our pussycat shot up the stairs like a flash and hid, despite him being roughly three times the size of little neighbour cat. He would only come downstairs again when we'd shooed out little neighbour cat and coaxed him down stairs. 


And then they sat like this for literally about an hour occasionally hissing at each other


Even when pussycat got spooked and left the door, little neighbour cat was still glaring at him, watching, waiting.


Our kitty has kept guard ever since and hasn't wanted to go out all day, and I keep getting the giggles. 

Saturday 7 July 2012

Blue Food

I have always thought there is a distinct lack of blue food in the world, but check these babies out... 


Blue!!!


How exciting!

Friday 6 July 2012

Turn Back Time - The Family

I've started watching Turn Back Time - The Family lately (episodes are on the BBC iplayer now for all you Brits). It's a TV series where they've taken this row of terraces, gutted them and re-decorated them to look as they would have done in different time periods over the last 100 years in England.


All the insides look pretty good, so far we've had Edwardian times for the first episode and the second was the 20s and depression. The next episode is the war years and the 40s.


There are three families the viewers follow. Their family trees are looked at and they assume the life of one of them e.g. lower class chauffeur, upper class mill manager etc.



Here's the lower class family having their things taken away by the government so they can receive welfare in the depression.


The upper class family having a nice little stroll


The lower class family who are servants for the upper class family


The TV show didn't focus too much on the middle class family, maybe because they seemed to get on quite well with minimal drama! Well worth a watch if you have the time.

Thursday 5 July 2012

Olympic Torch Time

The olympic torch went through Norwich yesterday with a police escort...

Some big trucks


And scooters (?)


Time for a little pose with the unlit torch



Then the torch got lit from one to the other


Then off it went


Followed by the police and olympic coaches (without people in?). Funniest of all was the normal traffic following the procession afterwards cheering along.

Tuesday 3 July 2012

Packing Helper

I packed a couple boxes up this weekend, luckily I had a helper... 


And a guard for my lounge

Monday 2 July 2012

Philadelphia BBQ Macaroni Cheese

You know those TV ads with recipes on? I decided I'd make some macaroni cheese using Philadelphia  (I promise I don't advertise for Philadelphia or puff pastry, I know I talk about them a lot but I'm just weirdly obsessed - should Philadelphia or the puff pastry people wish to pay me I'm totally game).

First I cooked my macaroni


Then I got out the Philadelphia ready for mixing up, it said to use 120g of it but I thought "meh" and just tipped the whole thing in otherwise I'd be stuck with 80g of Philadelphia in my fridge I'd forget was there.


Next I added in my milk, then some cheese and salt and pepper.


It was at this point I was reading through the reviews on the Philadelphia and saw a few "nice but a bit bland" and "needs more flavour" reviews. Panic set in. I did what every good English woman would do - cupboard raid! I then came across some of the boyfriend's BBQ glaze - perfect I thought! In it went.


Gave it all a little mix until it got all lumpy and gross.


Drained my macaroni


Then I cut up my tasty honey roasted ham from the deli counter and drained my sweetcorn.


Mixed everything together.


Topped with some cheesy goodness.


Then into the oven for 15 mins.... yummerz, it came out great and the boyfriend had seconds - a hit!