There are implications and ramifications from the sudden departure of the remaining Xmas Rellies. For starters I’ve no doubt we’ll get another visit from that foul mouthed semi-educated ‘would-be adolescent’ family member who posted previously. By the way, amazing as it sounds she *isn’t* an adolescent at all! She’s in her late twenties and has a couple of children. She might even be getting married soon. Let her rant. She isn’t my family, thank god, nor ever will be.
Also I doubt much of a positive spin will be put on it by the rellies when they report home, so it’s possible we might even get a call from irate parents trying to defend their child’s reputation. I’d love to hear their justification for expecting us to support their bone idle kids free of charge for 4 months. We’re walking with our heads held high. We did more than ever we needed to for a family member and got roundly abused for our kindness.
Moving on, we’ll not be taking in any more strays. This is the final straw and it’s broken this camel’s back. People who arrive in Australia expecting to find a comfortable free berth with us should be disabused of the notion we’ll take them in right now. We are *not* doing this again. Even the most mangy mongrel cur (or camel?) will turn and fight when forced into a corner… and trust me on this… I am in my corner.
The wife has worked long and hard to get where she is and to get what she has. I’m fed up of people dropping out of the woodwork to take advantage both of her hospitality and her generosity of spirit only to have it thrown back at her. Enough is enough. We should have drawn the line before now… but consider it drawn.
The Eclectic Interweb 
Hello Chris
I do not have to defend my kids to you or anyone else for that matter. Lets not forget who you are and where you come from. I have been reading your bloggs from the start along with the rest of your family and find you very sad that you can attack not only my family but your own in a very personal way (the wedding and everything that whent with it).I do not want to drop to your level but if you want me to get personal in the way you have I will drop to your level and do so.
You have now said that n&n have now left, so now leave it go because you do not have to see each other again, you can now get back to your kept life and hopefully there will be no more attacks from you on anyone’s family but your own. I hope this reaction to your very sad bloggs is acceptable and I do not sound as sad as you with your bloggs.
Hi Gareth… nice of you to drop by. True you don’t need to defend your kids… sometimes when something is indefensible it’s best to abandon the position and regroup.
I know who I am and where I’ve come from. Born in Caerffili… working family… usual things. Went to school, left, got a job… same old same old. Got married twice, went to London, worked towards two degrees, migrated here, taught myself about the Internet, spent a couple of years working for IBM, created some websites, wrote a book and… well you get the picture.
By the way, you seem to be under the misconception I’ve attacked my family. Nope. I just tell it like I see it without fear or favour. If my family upset me… I’ll write about it… if strangers upset me… I’ll write about it. That’s what the blog is… essentially just an online diary.
I love my parents dearly despite the real fact that at times they drive me up the wall! I love my kids despite their faults too, the way my folks love me despite mine… and of course I have as many as anyone else. Possibly more. But I don’t *attack* them. Can’t say I’m too fond of my daughter in law, but that’s another issue. 🙂
Understandably your view of events is coloured both by distance and the source of the information. I wonder for example if you were ever told that we said that if K&L bought a decent campervan we’d *buy* it from them when they left?? We felt this would mean they could buy a better machine than they’d originally intended, and save them the hassle of trying to sell it when they eventually left. This offer was ignored.
Add this into the mix of other ignored suggestions about how to set about buying a camper… e.g. getting it mechanically checked…. talking it for a test drive etc… and then how to fix it once they’d bought the thing they did and you’ll locate the source of all the problems.
I’ll let you into a secret… well not a secret really, just an edited bit of my history. When I was in my 20’s I had four cars working under Radio Cabs in Bridgend. A combination of Maggie Thatcher, the recession and my first marriage breaking up saw me living in Sarn with an ‘aged aunt’.
My aunt made it more than plain from the outset that I wasn’t welcome and was there under sufferance only because I had nowhere else to go.
Despite this, and despite her insisting I needn’t do so… I helped out with bills. I dug over the garden; I mowed her lawns; cleaned the windows; painted fences; cleared out and tidied up her garage… did all those little jobs that she wasn’t able to do properly herself.
What I *didn’t* do was lie in bed all day and let this old lady look after me. As soon as I was able, I found alternative accommodation… a real slum in Pontycymmer… and moved out. The new house had no electricity or running water and I could see the stars through the ceiling in the bedroom. But I did at least salvage some pride.
Feel free to ‘drop to my level’ if you wish. Makes no difference to me.
I wasn’t going to reply to your post Gareth but I feel I have to defend my brother.
My brother is and has always been a very generous person with both his time and money, the sort of person that if he knew someone wanted what he had he would give his last freely. He doesn’t expect anything in return but he himself was in desperate need of help and none was forthcoming. He shouldn’t have needed to ask for help, anyone could see he had broken his toe and couldn’t get around and the least that the n&n could have done was offer help.
I’ve been looking forward to responding to your post Gareth but I can understand how logic and good sense can easily confuse a stupid person so I’ll type slowly for you.
Frankly you are wrong and your children’s attitudes are wrong.
My brother is the most infuriatingly generous person I know. Infuriating because as my sister pointed out he would prefer to go without himself even if that is to his own detriment rather than see someone else in need.
You have clearly not been able to teach your child the important concept of humility – that’s pretty self evident from the language you employ in your response. Neither it would appear, do they have any conception of the value of simply saying thank you or sorry or being able to acknowledge that they might be in the wrong – another characteristic clearly inherited from you.
Forgive me for being a little confused but I thought you yourself may have been grateful that 12,000 miles away across the other side of the world was a family who were prepared to care for the safety and well being of your child when there are so many stories in the press about the harm that can befall travellers in foreign lands. But as I said earlier your own capacity for generosity of spirit is obviously as stunted as that of your offspring.
In conclusion suffice to say that I love my brother dearly and as much as he loves me it never prevents either of us being honest about our respective strengths and weaknesses. It’s what characterises mature, adult and intelligent relationships from crude power and control based relationships which I dare to suggest describes your regular way of dealing with people.
The vehemence with which you lash out at my brother whose only concern has been the welfare of your child only serves to illustrate your own shortcomings I’m afraid, and the louder you shout the more stupid you look.
It is great to see such misplaced unity within such a insincere environment. It is disappointing to see an aging welsh man trying to be clever by spelling his place of birth in welsh to attempt to show how educated he is, yet I am led to believe you had no option other than to get education later in life, due to the fact he followed the route of I don’t need an education when he should have been doing it, oop’s did I say that out loud, sorry!!! Do you not feel embarrassed at the fact that you criticise peoples education and the welsh education services, yet it was something that you could not comprehend yourself in your younger years.
You obviously feel you are articulate to write such pointless ramblings on this blog, yet it seems you are not articulate enough to construct a simple sentence like “would you mind helping me, as I am struggling to do this”, what a joke!!!!
I was also wondering if you had sent you letter of thanks to Bill Gates and his team of professionals for spell check and their thesaurus for helping you with the big words that you seem to like using within your little quips at people and this blog.
I personally think the woe is me, is a cry for attention, and when you were not getting it from n&n, you felt the need to provoke continued reactions from your wife’s family and n‘s family in Wales. Are you afraid of being alone, or have you no friends due to your obviously fantastic personality. I think a call to the Australian equivalent of the Samaritans would be better time spent for you, rather than posting your pointless views on the internet. I hope that this posting will allow you to place closure on the events of the last few months, and don’t feel obliged to respond, as this whole situation is as about as exciting as your life, although its seems you don’t have one.
It is great to see such misplaced unity within such a insincere environment. It is disappointing to see an aging welsh man trying to be clever by spelling his place of birth in welsh to attempt to show how educated he is, yet I am led to believe you had no option other than to get education later in life, due to the fact he followed the route of I don’t need an education when he should have been doing it, oop’s did I say that out loud, sorry!!! Do you not feel embarrassed at the fact that you criticise peoples education and the welsh education services, yet it was something that you could not comprehend yourself in your younger years.
You obviously feel you are articulate to write such pointless ramblings on this blog, yet it seems you are not articulate enough to construct a simple sentence like “would you mind helping me, as I am struggling to do this”, what a joke!!!!
I was also wondering if you had sent you letter of thanks to Bill Gates and his team of professionals for spell check and their thesaurus for helping you with the big words that you seem to like using within your little quips at people and this blog.
I personally think the woe is me, is a cry for attention, and when you were not getting it from n&n, you felt the need to provoke continued reactions from your wife’s family and n‘s family in Wales. Are you afraid of being alone, or have you no friends due to your obviously fantastic personality. I think a call to the Australian equivalent of the Samaritans would be better time spent for you, rather than posting your pointless views on the internet. I hope that this posting will allow you to place closure on the events of the last few months, and don’t feel obliged to respond, as this whole situation is as about as exciting as your life, although its seems you don’t have one.
please read kelly’s essay on i’m a kept man.