http://www.cathykeir.co.uk Welcome to the home of Beta Mum - who lacks the lifestyle and perfectionist tendencies of Alpha Mummy, but rubs along pretty well most of the time Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:29:12 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Illustration: Satoshi Kambayashi Michael Pollitt has popped up on Platte today - in the Guardian, rather than as Platte are wont to do - on your PC. It seems the OFT are looking into at least one aspect of the company's methods. I would take issue with a few more than one of ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/pollitt-on-platte/ I spent much of this afternoon as a refugee from an evacuated building, seeking a computer terminal on which to ply my trade. I found one, and it was actually a lot faster than the one I normally use. But in the process of wandering the streets of St Helier, wondering where ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/business-continuity/ It was a week before Glastonbury weekend, and we still found ourselves packing up a damp tent in the gaps between heavy showers. It certainly doesn't seem like a year has passed since we last risked Dartmoor under canvas. Loyal, long term readers will remember previous shots of dripping Gazebos and leaking ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/wetter-than-glastonbury/ The last time Blog Fodder hitched a ride he looked like this. He now has less hair, and, one would have thought, more sense. But no. He's just hitched 6 lifts to get from Norwich to the East Midlands. And who was his companion on this epic journey through the flatlands? An old mate ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/hitching-a-ride/ I mentioned this book the other week, and now I've had a chance to flick through it. It features a lot of child-focused travelling experiences, some of which I'm mighty glad were not mine. Like the plane trip suffered by Holly Korbey with two kids and the Baby Cheeses. The unasked for visit ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/car-seat/ We were brought up short by our son the other day. We were in the middle of an argument. Not a particularly serious one, but one of those tired, irritable bickering kinds of arguments you get into sometimes. Well we do anyhow. I can't even remember what started it, but I do know ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/not-in-front-of-the-children/ Before we moved, Ben said - "I’ll make just the same mess in Jersey." And Hannah said – "I thought I’d live in Plymouth all my life and now I’m being cut out of it." Well, both are partly right. Ben is still messy and disorganised, and Hannah no longer lives in Plymouth. But... Ben ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/same-but-different/ When is it time for a hair-do? When you can tuck your former fringe behind your ears? When you have to wash your hair every single day just to make it look half-way decent? (I apologise to all those people, primarily Americans in my experience, who always wash their hair every day, ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/haircuts-hardly-happen/ Remember this picture? They've struck again. To be fair, since Blog Fodder's last rant, which was actually about a different ferry company, HD Ferries have refunded our fare for the cancelled trip and given us a compensatory free trip. Which went well. But today, amid seas of glass, an hour's delay ensued. No word ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/hd-habitually-delayed/ One of my pet hates is the use of the word "haitch" when what the speaker means is "aitch". Apologies to those of you who put an "aitch" at the front of the letter "aitch", but you're adding a letter that is patently not there. And now Ben has started doing it. "All ... http://www.cathykeir.co.uk/blog/peer-pressure-2/