Gemma celebrates web 2.Ooooh

I make it a rule never sign up to email newsletters; even if they start out interesting they soon deteriorate into pointless drivel padded out by even more pointless and uninteresting adverts.

But…being the contractictory woman that I am,  I’ve broken my own rule. And the weekly email that’s caused this remarkable turnaround?: ‘Martin’s Money Tips’.

The title is cheesy and the website/forum is a usability nightmare but the content is worth it -  especially for the less financially astute or downright thrifty among us.

A few of you may already be familiar with the eponymous ‘Martin’, that’s Mr Martin Lewis aka the ‘Money Saving Expert’  of Radio 2 fame (allegedly, given that I don’t listen to that particular station )

So, in the interests of sharing his excellent finds/advice/tips of the trade, here’s an example of some recent topics of interest:

Flights from London Gatwick to New York for £160

Martin’s Mortgage Guide (suitable for first time buyers)

Free giveaway: 75 pairs of Ideal Home World Tickets

Linkage:

MoneySavingExpert.com

Martin’s Money Saving Tips [newsletter sign up page]

I’ve never been camping, not properly. I’ve been to Hagg Farm with school where they made us pitch tents on boggy, Peak district hills but after all that hard work, we still returned to our warm and cosy dorms at night.

I may have camped in a friend’s back yard once, but given that her mum bought us peanut butter sandwiches for our midnight snack, I don’t think that counts either.

I’m searching my mind about this because my fiance, James, and I are off to Wales tonight for long weekend camping trip with friends. We’ll be stopping off in Aberdare first to stay the night at James’s parents, but then we’ll make our way to West Wales in search of a field close to St Davids, and more importantly White Sands where my aformentioned companions will be whiling away their days surfing and bodyboarding. My recent ailment sadly means I’m stuck on dry land where my ear won’t have a chance of getting wet.

So I’m wishing I’d been camping before as then I’d have some idea of what to pack. My landlocked status means I should be sure to take some entertaining books: fact, fiction and puzzle, but I’m really regretting not nicking my brothers’ psp (especially as he’s got a mega drive emulator, with Aladdin on it). I don’t even have a gameboy. Perhaps I could convince James to come ashore long enough for a game of frisbee?

I’m also worried as I don’t have any particularly sturdy shoes. My trainers died a death during an It’s a Knockout event I did with work a while back, and the rest of shoes are ballet pump/flats. Still, it’s not like I’ll be climbing Ben Nevis, like a certain project manager of ours…

My friend, Gill, an ardent camper recommends bringing lots of pasta. The upside of this is that I can make the one and only dish I can cook: Macoroni Cheese. Yum.

No doubt my flickr account will contain pics for the nosey or extremely bored to view when we get back.

In the meanwhile, at least the bit10 blog feed will have a rest from the relentness personal drivel i’ve been posting of late!

Update:

Apparently torches / head lamps, some sort of heat-generating device, and the address of the nearest B&B are the camping ‘must have’s’.

So I’m sitting at home, having slept a Monday morning away due to a particularly nasty cold that has now led to an even nastier ear infection-cum-perforated-ear drum.

The lovely people at the Coventry NHS Walk in centre have loaded me with antibiotics that so far have only worked to make me vomit.  Plus, I can’t find my dvd copy of Steel Magnolias anywhere.

I’m not a happy bunny… mainly because of the missing chick flick. I also find it quite amusing that I’m sat here with the whole of the interweb (well, the majority of it, this is my work computer) in front of me, yet besides checking emails and leaving silly comments on a friend’s Flickr account - I’m bored.

I must be ill.