I FANCY A RANT after all it`s my blog.

What on earth is going on in the world that you the reader lives in. I ask because having just purchased one of the monthly waterways mags it contained a report that an MP asked if he could claim for blacking his narrowboat, i kid you not have a look here.

They are all a bunch of Leeches and i for one am glad i haven`t voted for about 6 yrs now on the basis that as far as running the country there was not a difference between them. The Daily Telegraph exposure that started with the `John Lewis` list and moved onto the weird expenses claimed by MP`s has made up my mind i that i made the right decision.

Some might not agree but but i defend my right to be wrong in the eyes of others. There are a lot of people, and i`ve met some when i was working, that spend Mon-Fri living near their work far from home and travelling home for the w`end to be with family, and these are PAYE not S/employed.

It would be nice if they could claim for renting or buying a second home but oh no because they choose to work far from home to support their families and pay the mortgage and not be dependant on benefits.......tough.
But if they were MP`s not only would they get a second home but also the weird and wonderful expense claims on top. Check through the Telegraph site the claims are mind boggling.

I know some have to stay near Parliament at times as distances can sometimes be great from constituency's but there is a limit and for those living not too far why should they claim at all, just think of the thousands that commute into London and other big cities on a daily basis.

OK rant over but the narrowboat claim started me off and i bet he wasn`t living on it.
You know i hardly ever buy a newspaper nowadays, never bother with the weather forecast because if i don`t want to cruise in the rain there`s always tomorrow and hardly watch the TV news because well just think about what you see on news at ten tonight how much if any would have affected your life if you hadn`t watched it.

Maybe my outlook on living is not to everyone`s taste but i`m happy with little pressure of the away from the canal world.
All comments welcome and as usual will be published if not offensive to anyone.

Back to life afloat and i have just had to replace my domestic battery bank after nearly 4 yrs of use. I noticed the lack of power left in the batteries over the last 2 mornings and after using the Internet located a supplier who would deliver to the boat at a reasonable price although it meant turning back to cruise for an hour to a convenient location near a road which on this occasion was a BW maintenance yard.
Today i spent 5 hours removing the old batteries and rubbing down and painting the battery bay. Each battery weighed in at 41 kilo and i sure did notice i wasn`t getting any younger as i struggled to heave them in and out of the engine room below decks. Still after a good shower and a cuppa it`s all now in the past......job done and now plenty of elektricererrery!

I am now on my way back down the Macclesfield canal having been to Bugsworth Basin and Whaley bridge at the end of the Maccie. I am thinking of doing a picture show for the Bugsworth blog as i took so many pictures of what turned out to be a very interesting place and as the Internet signal is so strong all along the canal in this area it should not be a problem loading it onto the blog.
Ongoing plans are to leave NB Valerie in a marina mid July as one of my Sons is getting married and i want to spend a week or so down south. After that i`ve not quite made up my mind but a trip to Stourport is in the brain box so who knows.....watch this space.