The car has returned!

We had a phone call yesterday evening to say it was ready - much sooner than expected - so we went and collected it this morning. No strange noise at all and it seems to be going well. I don't think we have anything now that we're waiting to be sorted out - but maybe I ought to keep my fingers crossed while I type that statement!

When the bough breaks - part 2

Yes I've finished it and pretty harrowing reading it was too. I'm glad I did read it even though I am not at all maternal myself. I think she's a very courageous lady and cannot agree with India Knight in the Sunday Times that she was selfish in giving up her severely brain damaged baby. Julia Hollander knew she didn't have what it takes to give up her life 24/7 to a child, to the detriment of her other daughter and her then partner, now her husband. She had lots of misgivings about it and went through hell before everything was settled. The stupidity of our current set up for helping disabled people meant that Imogen's foster carer would always get more financial help and practical support than Julia would as the child's mother. Julia and her family always see Imogen every fortnight and will continue to do so and she seems to be very much part of the family. It seems to me that Imogen ended up in the best possible situation for her - with someone who has the abilities to look after her without resenting the sacrifice. Such a sacrifice has to be willingly made or not made at all in my opinion.

I have just spent all morning cleaning the car - it was disgusting! I even had to wash it twice before it looked ok - and I'm no perfectionist! What's more it's got some special coating on it that's supposed to make it easier to clean. It doesn't. I am very pleased that we didn't pay the dealer to put the coating on at £200! Instead we found out where to get the stuff to do it with and did it ourselves - following all the instructions. It's supposed to mean that you only need to polish your car once every three years - not true. I've polished it today because it needed it and it's only been on there 6 months!

I have just started reading Petite Anglaise by Catherine Sanderson - another book that arose out of a blog - looks like compulsive reading so far.

More comments on this consumer society

Is it possible to do without the luxuries in life and not feel resentful? Were credit cards the worst things that were ever invented? Whatever happened to living within your means? Did the shampoo adverts which ended with the sentence - because I'm worth it - wreak havoc with our collective bank balances?

I don't blame commercial organisations as they're in it to make money so they have to push their products as much as possible or they go under. But are these products really necessary? How many brands of shampoo are there out there? Don't they all contain the same ingredients? Why are some shampoos marketed for men and others for women, and yet hotels always manage to produce unisex varieties in their freebies? Do the cheapest produce the same results as the most expensive? If they do then we're just paying for the name.

If an ordinary family saloon - cost say £12K - will get you from A to B comfortably and safely why do you need to spend £20k or even more on something which will do the same job? Why do people spend money on VWs when Skodas are built in the same factory to the same design but have different badges put on them at the end? If you're worried about the badge then you're in it for the status that you think purchase confers on you, rather than just buying something that you need.

I shall be watching out for examples of conspicuous consumption over the next few weeks and reporting on them here.