Chavs, Anchovies, El presidente and the Germans

Where to start...

Do the easy stuff first - went to Gullivers World in Warrington today which is a disappointing attempt at a theme park - it has been there for some years now, and it would appear that any attempt at maintenance and upkeep has been abandoned! James loved it of course, I'm just a snob. But it was full of Chavs, with big bums and bigger hooped gold plated earrings, with kids not much older than James telling each other to f*** off and not giving a damn about who heard them. Parents who should know better, with out of control kids who don't know any better because their parents don't tell them how they should behave in public. Jeez. Won't be going back there in a hurry.

Took some chav pics, of fat arses, but thought better of it than posting them just in case I offended anyone on blip.

As for anchovies - I made pizzas for tea, and Corin loves anchovies on his pizza. I detest the bloody things (they make me want to hurl chunks!) and normally make him put his own nasty filth like anchovies onto his pizza. But tonight, I held my breath and placed them delicately (well dumped them on with fork) on his pizza. He thought I had put them on with my fingers...hahahahah ....foolish boy - I don't touch 'icky things. But nonetheless, he was grateful for the thought and I advised him that the anchovies were a measure of how much I love him, because I would not do that for anyone else!

El presidente, the poison chalice and the Germans

My mum is the president of the community that they live in. She took up post last September. She referred to it as the poison chalice last year, and I understand why. The community is basically made up of some English and some German ex-pats. Some of the Germans are lovely. But some are far from it and clearly have nothing better to do than be vindictive and find things to complain about.

When the community had a German president (there have been a few) the 'rules' were bloody ridiculous. Some still are to be honest but they are more to do with Spanish law I think (like no power tools to be used on a sunday - e.g. lawnmowers, because of the noise. There's a stupid rule about washing your car as well I think ....mum will tell me in a comment below I am sure!)

Anyway, mum commented on yesterday's blip and I rang her. It was the community AGM yesterday, which apparently can be summed up as 4 hours of mum being on 'stage' being completely slagged of and verbally assaulted by these people. Unfortunately, most of the English were actually absent from the AGM as for various reasons they have had to come back to England briefly. So mum had very little support there, except for her husband and a couple of friends, and a couple of the Germans who were ashamed of their compatriots behaviour.

Key points used to have a go at her?
1. She paid a community member who is a builder to paint the community walls white (which has to be done) - apparently she shouldn't have done that because my step dad should have done it for free (because El presidente's husband clearly has to do manual labour for free because he has the priviledge of being her husband. Sod the fact that he had a bloody heart attack 18 months ago and that he does loads for the community anyway!)

2. She bought a small picnic table and two chairs to put by the community pool - it cost 50 euros. The germans hate it because the English use it and people socialise with each other round it - HEAVEN BLOODY FORBID that people might enjoy themselves!

3. The colour of the paint that is used for the houses on the community has been re-assessed and decided, by mum, in consultation with community members, but it wasn't done at the AGM. The houses have been repainted (they can only be done in one of two colours - White or Yellow!) and the germans think that mum should have made everybody wait until the AGM to find out what type of paint had been approved. These are the same people who complain when houses HAVEN'T been painted, and complain when people paint their houses and it looks too 'new'. One of the germans voted against the type of paint that had been used, even though he had written a letter to the previous (German) president 3 years ago and recommended the same bloody paint. Mum had the letter at the meeting and shamed him with it.

After one of the german blokes stood nose to nose with her, wagging his finger in her face, mum had had enough. When it came towards the end of the meeting, mum stood up and basically said "You know what, it isn't worth it. I resign"

Eventually, when no one else was prepared to take on the poison chalice, and when the administrator threatened to put names in the hat and pull one out to be the next president, Mum said she would do it, on condition that she was president in name only, but that she would not take any decisions at all and everything would be held until the AGM next year. In Spanish law the community MUST have a president, and the risk of it being one of the outlaw germans was too much - siesta and all sorts of other stupidity would be imposed, and they don't want to go back to that old regime.

So mum, you have my sympathy...I'm sorry you had to put up with that sort of crap, particularly after the last couple of months being so stressful. Be like the duck - calm on the surface, paddle furiously underneath. And get some rest. And remember, even James, at the age of 3, knew what Erica was like , when he refused to accept some sweets from 'that nasty lady'