The Time Bubble

You know, this place really infuriates me. I don't really have any huge reason to hate it, and I haven't always, I just do now. I am well aware of the traffic problems and have read all the comments with regard to Boxing Day on the facebook page. This isn't personally a problem for me these days as I rarely set foot outside my house on Boxing Day but I do have some past experience of it and I can see why it continues to provide anger for other Bicester residents. Over the last few years a simmering resentment against the place has built up in me, and going by what I read I am certainly not alone. Blimey, if you thought I disliked Tesco, well they aren't even in the same league as this lot. They stand like a bright shining beacon of retail delight next to BV - now that is saying something! So why don't I like it? Well I have thought about it, and come up with a list of reasons, in no particular order, but here we go. I'll start with the traffic. 1) The traf...

Let the carnage commence!  Well, there goes another Christmas, pretty much as expected. I've pretty much got my Christmasses down to a tee these days, have settled into a little family formula that works for us, so let's run through it. I don't like to spoil Christmas Day by being either hung over or tired since having the kids, the traditional Christmas Eve booze up has been knocked on the head. Back in the Nielsen days, this basically used to involve getting a lift into work on Christmas Eve, leaving work at 12, going on the piss around Oxford, getting the bus back to Bicester early evening (with crossed legs) and then continuing the festivities back in Bicester before ending up at someone's house, or maybe mine. I shudder to think about it now to be honest, waking up underneath a Christmas tree on the 25th amid a sea of Strongbow cans is an image best consigned to the archives forever. But - no need to miss out! I generally have a bit of a booze up on the 23...