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England, what have they done to you?
May. 16th, 2008 11:00 amThere are many things I do so appreciate about England and I am glad to have: really, really hot baths. Yeah! My beloved dogs. Chippy teas. Central heating. Double glazing. Beautiful green gardens.
But nobody cares for misty-eyed eulogies to this country, so let me tell you about three things that have changed in the last year that have shocked and dismayed me:
The Price of Things
There is absolutely no need for the price of food in the UK. You can't even argue that it's the cost of importing produce, because even local food is through the roof. Trout, native trout, may I add, costs £5 in yer supermarket. Now, a year ago? I was paying £2 or less for that same fish. It's cheaper to buy British trout in fookin' Spain! Cheese is expensive. A loaf is double what I was paying in April 2007. Vegetables are ridiculously expensive, but thank God for those German usurpers Aldi and their 59p vegetables. Wine? Don't even go there.
Where Did Coronation Street Go?
So my brother and I are sitting there on Sunday, just finished our dinner. Hey! It's 7.30pm! Time for some crappy soap! Except... it's disappeared from the Sunday schedule. Considering I would rather eat my own dog than watch Heartbeat, I was extremely saddened and disappointed in its disappearance.
The Trains
We've always been a bit awful with trains (a German friend of my brother's went ballistic when the trains were cancelled because it was windy when trains still run in Germany and Switzerland even in the worst mountain weather), but again... the prices beggar belief.
Popping up to France from Barcelona in January, after prices went up, cost me €7. Seven whole freakin' Euros for a three-hour train journey to another country. To get to Leeds, which is just a little over there from Liverpool? £22. How can that be justified in any way whatsoever? Why does it cost me an arm and a leg to get from Huyton to Liverpool when the journey takes about ten minutes? Also, I am not happy at the scant opportunity this country presents for taking the Freedom Train.
There's also the crazy tax thing, whereby cost of living has exceeded the rise in pay, but that's a whole other rant. It just means that I am determined not to work here and pay taxes to that grasping asshat Gordon Brown. >:
But nobody cares for misty-eyed eulogies to this country, so let me tell you about three things that have changed in the last year that have shocked and dismayed me:
The Price of Things
There is absolutely no need for the price of food in the UK. You can't even argue that it's the cost of importing produce, because even local food is through the roof. Trout, native trout, may I add, costs £5 in yer supermarket. Now, a year ago? I was paying £2 or less for that same fish. It's cheaper to buy British trout in fookin' Spain! Cheese is expensive. A loaf is double what I was paying in April 2007. Vegetables are ridiculously expensive, but thank God for those German usurpers Aldi and their 59p vegetables. Wine? Don't even go there.
Where Did Coronation Street Go?
So my brother and I are sitting there on Sunday, just finished our dinner. Hey! It's 7.30pm! Time for some crappy soap! Except... it's disappeared from the Sunday schedule. Considering I would rather eat my own dog than watch Heartbeat, I was extremely saddened and disappointed in its disappearance.
The Trains
We've always been a bit awful with trains (a German friend of my brother's went ballistic when the trains were cancelled because it was windy when trains still run in Germany and Switzerland even in the worst mountain weather), but again... the prices beggar belief.
Popping up to France from Barcelona in January, after prices went up, cost me €7. Seven whole freakin' Euros for a three-hour train journey to another country. To get to Leeds, which is just a little over there from Liverpool? £22. How can that be justified in any way whatsoever? Why does it cost me an arm and a leg to get from Huyton to Liverpool when the journey takes about ten minutes? Also, I am not happy at the scant opportunity this country presents for taking the Freedom Train.
There's also the crazy tax thing, whereby cost of living has exceeded the rise in pay, but that's a whole other rant. It just means that I am determined not to work here and pay taxes to that grasping asshat Gordon Brown. >:
