Lessons on Life

Firstly well done to Connie. She has spent the last two days ploughing through the whole blog, and at last she has caught up with the rest of us. Welcome Connie. I really ought to go back and read some of it myself, but it's such a mammoth task I keep putting it off. I keep thinking I might go back and edit it, polish it up a bit, smooth out some of the rough edges, I am sure to find loads of mistakes. One day I might.

I don't know about you but it feels like a Sunday to me. It's been raining for a good part of the day, so I haven't ventured too far. I popped round the corner to visit Janet and Paul and meet their new pooch, they have adopted a beautiful Irish Red Setter. Dougal is four years old, and a lovely boy.

I wonder what you do for entertainment on the web? Most of us probably read each others blogs, I really enjoy reading what other people are getting up to. I also watch a few TV programmes on the catch up channels, bit of a Coronation Street addict, don't know why, I know it's a load of tosh. I also use the web like a library to look up things I am interested in, and of course I am always studying maps on it as well. There are four forums which I visit, and sometimes post on these, so all of this keeps me busy.

There is one forum I visit a lot because as well as providing me with lots of information on mainly money matters, it is also an eye opener on how other people get through their lives. Some of the posts are about the ups and downs of day to day living, it's like having a good gossip over the garden fence. Sometimes I join in but mostly I don't.

Money Saving Expert covers just about every subject you can think of. As well as the obvious ones of how to get out of debt, or where to get the best bargains. You can also read about relationship problems, family disputes, looking after your pets, and where to find the cheapest hotels. Some of the topics amaze me, nothing it seems is taboo. If you've had a sheltered upbringing, or haven't much idea of how the nuts and bolts of life work, then you can pick up all sorts of information from the people who have been there, done that, and got the teeshirt. Thrown into the mix is the opinions, advice, and the downright amazing responses the original poster gets to his or her initial query.

I sometimes browse through the MSE forum purely for entertainment. Some of the chat is very funny, some of it is whacky, but some of it is very witty and clever. The moderators are always on the ball, and so are some of the regular contributors, they can easily spot a troll a mile off. I am quite impressed sometimes at how they can suss someone out from their previous posts, in completelely different categories, in other parts of the forum. Some of the moderators must have photographic minds, there's not much that gets past them.

There are some parts of the forum I never venture into, obviously topics that I don't need to read up on. Anything with big numbers baffles me so I don't go there. The ones I visit most are Old Style, that's all about ways of cutting back on your day to day living costs, and Food Shopping is another favourite. Another one I read is, Up Your Income, not that I want to up mine but I find it interesting to read some of the ideas that people come up with. Then there is UK Holidays, Days Out, and Entertainment, Motoring and Public transport, and Utilities, all interesting to me.

I quite like the Health Beauty and Fashion Money Saving, mainly because I don't do beauty and fashion, it's interesting to see how people are trying to save money in those departments. There is a topic called No Buying Unnecessary toiletries in whatever month it is. I have to laugh when they post long lists of all the toiletries they already have, it's usually enough to last me a couple of years. They should rename the topic, No Buying Unnecessary toiletries ever again, ha ha.

The, Marriage, Couples, and Family Moneysaving topic is a bit of an eye opener, people post all sorts of personal stuff on there. Some of it is like what you might find on the Marge Proops agony aunt page of a womens magazine, only with a lot more detail. Anyone training to be a marriage guidance counsellor would do well to read this section, if not qualified the case studies would help with future course work.

So, if you want to learn more about life get yourself over to the forum. It's interesting, there is a lot to learn from it, and it makes my life look pretty simple. Toodle pip.