[vicissitudes] it’s the little ones which irritate …

Life in Britain is a dream. For a start, there’s Gordo, socialism, we all have jobs and the money’s rolling in.

Not.

No truly, there are some great aspects to life here. Er … the woods are lovely, the view from the window is a treat, the people in the town are warm and friendly, you don’t need to buy bottled water as in Russia and the place is basically clean.

It’s civilized in some ways.

So forgive me for being frustrated by petty things. Let’s start with the saga of the buckwheat.

ASDA, bless its cotton socks, ran this line [see pic above] until two weeks ago, I suspect largely for the Eastern European market. Speak to a Russian about the efficacy of this particular grain, combine it with shredded cabbage and many of your food needs are met.

They’ve discontinued it, the bstds. When I went to the management, they told me it wasn’t selling. Oh yeah, then how come it slowly disappeared off the shelves? How could I know that unless at least I was buying it?

Sometimes, it’s the loss of the little things which knocks you for six. Now i know what you're thinking - wtf doesn't Higham go to one of the plethora of other stores across the length of Britain but I reserve the right to be petulant and immature in this - I want ASDA to stock the stuff.

Now for the pic below – do you know what that is?

It’s a bloody magnet and where was it? Stuck in the DVD I bought so I couldn’t get the DVD out of the case.

It took a bench top, a sharp knife, a fork, some pincers, seven or eight tries and about 45 minutes to finally work the case open without breaking or scratching anything and then came the problem of the plastic bit in the centre which holds the disc in. It wouldn’t go down because of this bar in the pic and so I had to carve the lugs off, trying not to touch the disc.

I bought a second DVD last night and asked the girl what the hell they sold them with that thing in it for? Was it to add piquancy to our enjoyment of the film when we eventually get to watch it?

She put it in a device and removed two magnets. No one tells you these things. I’ve been away, haven’t I?