Barretts Net

I don’t know about you, but we have unwilling entered into a competition war with our neighbours. Who has the nicest car, which installed Sky first, who chose the window design first!

It is one of those situations where you NEVER say anything to each other but you both know what each are thinking.
I imagined this would happen when I retire and move further out into the country where I would only have one neighbour and a competition was inevitable.

However, now I live in the suburbs in a little estate and here I’m sure everyone is in competition with everyone. It almost feels like we have gone back to the 1950’s!

It’s even to the extent of who has managed to get the cheapest bargin! My missus is currently online trying to compare gas and electricity prices just so she can brag! Very worrying!

Picture: AndrewH.uk

There comes a point in every man’s life where you realise that you are just that. A man, no longer a boy. It might start with the greying of your formally imperviously jet black mop, it could be the way that you ache when you bend down or the way in which you are slowly starting to enjoy the music of Van Morrison more and more. Whatever it is, there is a point when you realise you are a man and that you are going to have to buy a lawnmower, a start playing darts and golf, drop the boy racer and get an adult dad car like an audi tt and start going on educational tours when on holiday. Not just pub runs.
These are the things that Rudyard Kipling missed out of his famed poem, because then you would be terrified. But, then, you will be a man my son.Image: 123rf

This week I am interested in your opinions. Generally on borrowing money.
Is borrowing money a bad thing or a sad modern day necessity? Should we be approaching banks for loans or asking our friends? Or how about some of these new same day loans online companies?
Generally I am just curious about the changing attitudes to all of this. Generally in Britain we seem to be quite a proud bunch who would never borrow anything even if it meant literally living on the breadline, but recently I have noticed a massive influx of credit card adverts, bank loans ads etc not to mention the numerous websites and so called cash for gold schemes. Is this a sign of the changing times?Image: jasonblait

Which has got me thinking about Christmas, particularly where to spend it? I have always wanted to jump the country at Christmas and spend it somewhere a little different but have never really had the guts but then I thought, what about now? It’s not like I’m realistically going to be missing out on anything is it? I mean all the country usually has going for it is that it might snow and lets face it, that’s hardly reliable is it.
So after a few brainstorms and simple searchs for flights to paris, I am off to France for the Christmas and New Year to do it style for once. Salut Gaye Pariee or however you spell it! You never know, I might not even come back!
Image: h.koppdelaney

I have always wondered where on earth you would buy such a contraption from and it would appear that gumtree is just the place, as a brief search of bicycles
for sale will soon show.
I have been looking for one of these as a surprise joke present for my girlfriend for quite a while after she said that we should be doing more things together. I don’t think that we can get much more together than tandem cycling!
I think I will give her a week before she decides we were just fine as we were! Haha
Image: gumtree