I am not someone who is generally known for their tidiness (my ex-landlady would certainly testify to that…) but I have found that moving house has certainly confused my brain. Being untidy doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t know where things are. An item might well be buried under a whole teetering stack of other things, but you do know that that it’s there. But moving house has made me forget that I even own certain things. It came as a real shock to me on Tuesday night that I would have to find some suitable shoes to wear to work and I stood there trying to remember what my work shoes actually look like. I think I found them but actually have know idea and when I have tidied a few more things away I might find another pair of shoes that might equally be for work.
I also have no idea where my glasses are. I have had them since I moved house but they now seem to have disappeared into the ether. I only wear glasses to read so can see perfectly well without them normally. But have had to find my spare glasses and wear those instead for now because I just cannot remember where I have left them. It is really unusual for me to lose things so I find it really strange.
When I got to work yesterday I realised I didn’t have the key to my desk drawers. The key was attached to my old house keys and so I didn’t have them with me. When I got home I scratched my head thinking of where I had put the keys and searched and searched and in this instance did finally find them. So I can at least have a cup of tea at work today. I keep very important things in my desk, as you can tell…
There are also various letters that I need to find, but cannot remember where I put them and there is a chance that they are not where I live at all but instead at my parents’ house, but I just don’t know. I feel I may need to get more organised or I will start to worry it is the early onset of Alzheimer’s.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Back to work
This home ownership thing is definitely not all it is cracked up to be! The chap came with his entourage to fit my cooker and fix the central heating, both of which he succeeded in doing but because the woman who lives upstairs hasn’t been about for days I couldn’t arrange for access to her place so that they could sort out the outlet pipe to prevent my hot water tank from exploding. The chap also found that the thermostat is broken on the hot water tank so it will continue to heat up even when it has already reached its optimum temperature. It’s not dangerous, but it is a complete waste of power, so he’s going to some back and fit a new thermostat for me. I reckon it will cost about £1000 to fix all these things.
The washing machine turned up but the chap ended up not even bringing it in because when he unpacked it in the van he realised that it was damaged. So now it is being delivered on Saturday morning instead. You may be advised to stand at a distance from me until I am able to do some washing again.
However, I did phone the water company the other day to query the bill they had sent me. I couldn’t understand why they were pre-charging me if I was on a meter. It turns out that despite me actually discussing being on a meter with the woman who set up my account and her saying that the place was already metered, that in fact it wasn’t and still isn’t. Somehow I have slipped through the net and they can no longer oblige me to be metered. You may now therefore flush the toilet at will should you come to visit. Given the amount of water they used to flush out my radiators, it is probably a very good thing that my water isn’t metered, as I would have needed a second mortgage to pay the bill. I might go on to a meter at some point anyway because I think it would be a lot cheaper but it isn’t really a priority to think about that right now.
Today it is finally back to work. Someone I work with texted me yesterday because they didn’t know I wasn’t going in and people were wondering where I was. I had arranged to take the day off, but it was when I had already gone on leave. Someone from work then wanted to speak to me last night as he needs a reference from me and it needs to be done today, so we had a chat about that and it will be one of my first tasks when I get into the office this morning.
On an unrelated note, if you are feeling creative then you might want to give this a go. I had meant to mention it a few days ago and forgot - and I think the deadline is tomorrow. Alternatively, although I don’t think it is an open invitation you could turn up at Julia’s party a bit like a stalker and join in on the celebrations.
The washing machine turned up but the chap ended up not even bringing it in because when he unpacked it in the van he realised that it was damaged. So now it is being delivered on Saturday morning instead. You may be advised to stand at a distance from me until I am able to do some washing again.
However, I did phone the water company the other day to query the bill they had sent me. I couldn’t understand why they were pre-charging me if I was on a meter. It turns out that despite me actually discussing being on a meter with the woman who set up my account and her saying that the place was already metered, that in fact it wasn’t and still isn’t. Somehow I have slipped through the net and they can no longer oblige me to be metered. You may now therefore flush the toilet at will should you come to visit. Given the amount of water they used to flush out my radiators, it is probably a very good thing that my water isn’t metered, as I would have needed a second mortgage to pay the bill. I might go on to a meter at some point anyway because I think it would be a lot cheaper but it isn’t really a priority to think about that right now.
Today it is finally back to work. Someone I work with texted me yesterday because they didn’t know I wasn’t going in and people were wondering where I was. I had arranged to take the day off, but it was when I had already gone on leave. Someone from work then wanted to speak to me last night as he needs a reference from me and it needs to be done today, so we had a chat about that and it will be one of my first tasks when I get into the office this morning.
On an unrelated note, if you are feeling creative then you might want to give this a go. I had meant to mention it a few days ago and forgot - and I think the deadline is tomorrow. Alternatively, although I don’t think it is an open invitation you could turn up at Julia’s party a bit like a stalker and join in on the celebrations.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Early Starts
I’m not back at work today (woo hoo!) as the plumber/ electrician/ gas bloke is back to wire in my cooker and fix my central heating. A washing machine is also being delivered this afternoon, and then hopefully after that I can actually have some clean clothes (woo hoo - again) I have a couple of other things to do today as well such as get a lock for the side gate. It’s not actually my responsibility to sort it out but at the moment anyone can walk round to the back of the property and I want to do what I can to minimise the likelihood of getting burgled and the freeholder won‘t do it. Paranoid it may be, but better safe than sorry. Anyway I went and spoke to one of my neighbours to ask if he would mind me putting a lock on the gate and he said it was fine and then said to me “well, security is only as good as its weakest link, so maybe you should put a lock on the gate on the other side as well”. Right. Thanks for that. Peoples’ lax attitude to security strikes me as being the weakest link here…
It’s been a busy few days anyway. My uncles and their families were over at my parents’ house on Saturday, which was nice. One of my cousins (who is seven) is really irritating though, he is a vegetarian and sees it as perfectly acceptable to say “what you’re eating makes me feel really sick” and other such lovely things. He is also just quite destructive and just made such a mess. I think he might have some kind of attention deficit disorder or he is just plain obnoxious. He was like a stroppy teenager but about six years too early. I pity his parents. He did, however, at one point say something about how he had saved my uncle from drowning. His mum just shushed him and said “Yes that is true, but now isn’t the time to talk about it” and changed the subject. What was that all about??
I went shopping with my mum yesterday and she bought me some new duvet covers and is going to buy me a sofa. I saw one hat I like but want to just look somewhere else first in case there is something I prefer. I am slowly filling the house and ordered a new bed on Friday which will be delivered in a couple of weeks’ time. It’s beginning to feel more like a home.
On New Year’s Eve a friend came over and we just had a quiet evening watching a DVD and having a chat. I talked to her about some of the stuff that has been going on of late and she was really helpful and that helped a bit. I hadn’t seen her in months and however much I might think I have things that need to be sorted out, she has much more of a messy life and my life seems a world of calm.
Anyway, on a totally different matter, this website is kind of cool and ideal for someone like me who has no artistic talent whatsoever. It is en entirely blank screen and you can draw on it as though you were Jackson Pollock. Just click you mouse to change colours. Enjoy.
It’s been a busy few days anyway. My uncles and their families were over at my parents’ house on Saturday, which was nice. One of my cousins (who is seven) is really irritating though, he is a vegetarian and sees it as perfectly acceptable to say “what you’re eating makes me feel really sick” and other such lovely things. He is also just quite destructive and just made such a mess. I think he might have some kind of attention deficit disorder or he is just plain obnoxious. He was like a stroppy teenager but about six years too early. I pity his parents. He did, however, at one point say something about how he had saved my uncle from drowning. His mum just shushed him and said “Yes that is true, but now isn’t the time to talk about it” and changed the subject. What was that all about??
I went shopping with my mum yesterday and she bought me some new duvet covers and is going to buy me a sofa. I saw one hat I like but want to just look somewhere else first in case there is something I prefer. I am slowly filling the house and ordered a new bed on Friday which will be delivered in a couple of weeks’ time. It’s beginning to feel more like a home.
On New Year’s Eve a friend came over and we just had a quiet evening watching a DVD and having a chat. I talked to her about some of the stuff that has been going on of late and she was really helpful and that helped a bit. I hadn’t seen her in months and however much I might think I have things that need to be sorted out, she has much more of a messy life and my life seems a world of calm.
Anyway, on a totally different matter, this website is kind of cool and ideal for someone like me who has no artistic talent whatsoever. It is en entirely blank screen and you can draw on it as though you were Jackson Pollock. Just click you mouse to change colours. Enjoy.
Monday, January 01, 2007
The Good Stuff
So, it’s a new year and time to look back at some of the good stuff, and actually there was probably more good stuff that happened than bad but I think the bad stuff has just had more of an impact. Although having said that, the good stuff kind of eludes me right now, so I might have to come back to this.
Anyway, this year there has been a fair bit of travel - Russia, Gibraltar, Madrid, Germany, The Gambia, Scotland. All very different experiences. In terms of the place that I went to that impacted me the most, I think it was probably Gibraltar, which was mainly because I went from miserable weather and hassles here to lovely sunshine and feeling able to escape for a couple of days. Despite it being for work, it was actually a nice break from things - a change is as good as a rest, as they say. But all the other places were good as well, Russia and The Gambia being by far the biggest culture shifts. In Russia they don’t even use the same written script so it was kind of disorientating and The Gambia was a country of contrasts with some poverty and so on and the whole bartering thing did my head in, but it was a great place to visit.
The most major change I suppose is that I am now a homeowner. That has actually had quite a good psychological impact on me, making me feel as thought for the first time ever I actually have some say over where I live and can do things in my own way. If I want to leave my washing on the clothes dryer for weeks then that’s up to me, and at last there’s no-one going through my underwear!
In the last year I saw more of my family than I have for a long time and whilst that has been rather strained at times I think over all that has been a good thing and hopefully at some point I will work through those things that hold me back. I am not someone who holds up family as this amazing thing, but I think there is still something significant (whether in a good or a bad way) about family. Something to work on in time to come though, at least for my own peace of mind.
In terms of music, at the top has to be Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, but also When You Were Young by The Killers (and I love their self-named album as well), and I really liked No Tomorrow by Orson. Of course, going to my first concert was great and hopefully will inspire to go and see more. I also went to a recording of a BBC radio programme which was good and I want to try and see more recordings this year too.
It’s been a really mixed year, but it has to be said that there were times when despite everything that was going on around I just felt really, really content and happy with life and that was something that I enjoyed and appreciated so much and I hope for much more of that in 2007.
Happy New Year. I hope 2007 is a good one for you.
Anyway, this year there has been a fair bit of travel - Russia, Gibraltar, Madrid, Germany, The Gambia, Scotland. All very different experiences. In terms of the place that I went to that impacted me the most, I think it was probably Gibraltar, which was mainly because I went from miserable weather and hassles here to lovely sunshine and feeling able to escape for a couple of days. Despite it being for work, it was actually a nice break from things - a change is as good as a rest, as they say. But all the other places were good as well, Russia and The Gambia being by far the biggest culture shifts. In Russia they don’t even use the same written script so it was kind of disorientating and The Gambia was a country of contrasts with some poverty and so on and the whole bartering thing did my head in, but it was a great place to visit.
The most major change I suppose is that I am now a homeowner. That has actually had quite a good psychological impact on me, making me feel as thought for the first time ever I actually have some say over where I live and can do things in my own way. If I want to leave my washing on the clothes dryer for weeks then that’s up to me, and at last there’s no-one going through my underwear!
In the last year I saw more of my family than I have for a long time and whilst that has been rather strained at times I think over all that has been a good thing and hopefully at some point I will work through those things that hold me back. I am not someone who holds up family as this amazing thing, but I think there is still something significant (whether in a good or a bad way) about family. Something to work on in time to come though, at least for my own peace of mind.
In terms of music, at the top has to be Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, but also When You Were Young by The Killers (and I love their self-named album as well), and I really liked No Tomorrow by Orson. Of course, going to my first concert was great and hopefully will inspire to go and see more. I also went to a recording of a BBC radio programme which was good and I want to try and see more recordings this year too.
It’s been a really mixed year, but it has to be said that there were times when despite everything that was going on around I just felt really, really content and happy with life and that was something that I enjoyed and appreciated so much and I hope for much more of that in 2007.
Happy New Year. I hope 2007 is a good one for you.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
The sombre stuff
Having taken a swift look through the last year out there in the big wide world, it’s time to get a bit closer to home. It’s been an interesting year for me with quite a lot of highlights but also some real lowlights. I’ll start with some of the bad stuff and then we’ll move on to the more cheery stuff tomorrow.
Work has not always been the happiest of experiences this year. It was only after my head of unit retired that I realised quite how bullied I felt by her. I had seen how she treated other people and saw that as bullying but it was only once the weight had been lifted from my own shoulders that I saw quite what had been happening to me too. Work is such a huge part of a lot of people’s lives and so if it isn’t a good place to be then it has a big impact on you. Don’t get me wrong there have been some really good things at work and I work with some really great people but it was like walking into a cloud of darkness each week day morning for a large part of this year, not even being able to take my coat off or switch my computer on before being summoned over to my head of unit to talk to her about something. Anyway, it’s over now and whilst I am still trying to work out what my new head of unit is like there may be moves afoot to do with that in the New Year too. On top of that I am also changing jobs in the New Year which should make a whole range of things easier or at least different.
Relationships have not always been great in 2006. There was the stuff with A and that e-mail which basically seemed to pretty much say that we will never be in contact again. I still don’t give up hope that we might get back on to speaking terms one day and I won’t ever close the door on that, but the stuff a couple of months ago was a real low point for me this year. Then there were the couple of friendships that fell by the wayside more recently. The demise of one of the friendships has given me some reason to ponder and if I am honest, for reasons that I have not explained here, over the last couple of weeks I have been particularly down about that whole situation. Looking back over the year I have to say that my confidence in terms of friendship, and just in myself, has taken a real knock and more recently I have withdrawn quite a lot from situations because I think I just don’t quite trust myself at the moment. By which I mean I am so disappointed with, or maybe it’s ashamed of, myself that I feel at a loss as to know where to start in dealing with people. I will probably return to this next week sometime but, for now, suffice to say I have taken some severe knocks this year and it has caused me much self doubt.
Whilst my housing situation has improved much of late, there were times when I thought I would never escape my nosey and obsessive landlady. She invaded my privacy, tried to organise my life and went through my underwear with a regularity that I perhaps should have had her arrested for. Still I have now escaped and one day will be able to look back and laugh - with the laughter of the insane.
Work has not always been the happiest of experiences this year. It was only after my head of unit retired that I realised quite how bullied I felt by her. I had seen how she treated other people and saw that as bullying but it was only once the weight had been lifted from my own shoulders that I saw quite what had been happening to me too. Work is such a huge part of a lot of people’s lives and so if it isn’t a good place to be then it has a big impact on you. Don’t get me wrong there have been some really good things at work and I work with some really great people but it was like walking into a cloud of darkness each week day morning for a large part of this year, not even being able to take my coat off or switch my computer on before being summoned over to my head of unit to talk to her about something. Anyway, it’s over now and whilst I am still trying to work out what my new head of unit is like there may be moves afoot to do with that in the New Year too. On top of that I am also changing jobs in the New Year which should make a whole range of things easier or at least different.
Relationships have not always been great in 2006. There was the stuff with A and that e-mail which basically seemed to pretty much say that we will never be in contact again. I still don’t give up hope that we might get back on to speaking terms one day and I won’t ever close the door on that, but the stuff a couple of months ago was a real low point for me this year. Then there were the couple of friendships that fell by the wayside more recently. The demise of one of the friendships has given me some reason to ponder and if I am honest, for reasons that I have not explained here, over the last couple of weeks I have been particularly down about that whole situation. Looking back over the year I have to say that my confidence in terms of friendship, and just in myself, has taken a real knock and more recently I have withdrawn quite a lot from situations because I think I just don’t quite trust myself at the moment. By which I mean I am so disappointed with, or maybe it’s ashamed of, myself that I feel at a loss as to know where to start in dealing with people. I will probably return to this next week sometime but, for now, suffice to say I have taken some severe knocks this year and it has caused me much self doubt.
Whilst my housing situation has improved much of late, there were times when I thought I would never escape my nosey and obsessive landlady. She invaded my privacy, tried to organise my life and went through my underwear with a regularity that I perhaps should have had her arrested for. Still I have now escaped and one day will be able to look back and laugh - with the laughter of the insane.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Looking back... again...
Continuing the look back over the last year, today is the time to look at some of the stories mainly relating to things in one way or another coming to an end or near end.
Bird Flu seemed to hit the headlines earlier this year as it spread across the globe and we were all told to keep an eye out for any birds that seemed to have met an untimely end. Police were regularly called to branches of McDonald’s to check out the McChicken Sandwiches. However, police later advised that there was no need for concern as there was indeed no chicken present in that product. When bird flu reached Turkey, Daily Mail readers panicked as to whether it was still safe to travel there, after all it would be most inconvenient to catch some pesky illness whilst catching some winter sunshine.
Madonna also caused her own travel concerns when she returned from Malawi with a baby boy. The media raged with debate on the ethics of adopting a child from another culture, even where that was one of potential poverty. Fortunately, Madonna managed to find a technique to avoid the media gaze when she tried to sneak by the press in her fur coat.
An Austrian girl, Natascha Kampusch, escaped from eight years of captivity living in a dungeon and was returned to her family and her kidnapper then killed himself. A strange story that to a degree I think we will never really know the truth about.
There was a close call for Richard “Hamster” Hammond when his car crashed at 300 miles per hour. It was touch and go for a while as to whether he would survive but he seemed to come out of it all remarkably unscathed, although being in a coma stopped him responding to Jeremy Clarkson’s insults and surely it gave him the opportunity some come up with the perfect retort. Steve Irwin, was not so fortunate and was killed instantly by a stingray off the coast of Australia. Other people who died this year included Slobodan Milosevic who will now never face charges of mass genocide which, given Saddam Husseinjoining the obituary list this morning, perhaps it meant he just short circuited the system. In terms of entertainment Aaron Spelling died who brought us the joy of such programmes as Beverley Hills 90210. The more cynical amongst us may question how his daughter will ever get a job again given that her father is no longer there to create programmes and miraculously find the perfect part for her in them but time will tell. More recently James Brown died bringing a Christmas Day end to the Godfather of Soul. One heading for extinction is the polar bear. Perhaps 2007 should be the year of eating glacier mints to show our support (can you even still get glacier mints??)
Pluto was demoted from a planet altogether and then was given a reprieve of sorts and was instead now known as a “dwarf planet”. What kind of Mickey Mouse science is that? Think about it... (*note to self* if you have to explain the joke, it isn’t funny. Did you learn nothing from Simon Amstell??). We also saw Top of the Pops come to the end of a forty year run which was perhaps signalled by the first ever number one record based on downloads. People were Crazy for Gnarls Barkley.
Bird Flu seemed to hit the headlines earlier this year as it spread across the globe and we were all told to keep an eye out for any birds that seemed to have met an untimely end. Police were regularly called to branches of McDonald’s to check out the McChicken Sandwiches. However, police later advised that there was no need for concern as there was indeed no chicken present in that product. When bird flu reached Turkey, Daily Mail readers panicked as to whether it was still safe to travel there, after all it would be most inconvenient to catch some pesky illness whilst catching some winter sunshine.
Madonna also caused her own travel concerns when she returned from Malawi with a baby boy. The media raged with debate on the ethics of adopting a child from another culture, even where that was one of potential poverty. Fortunately, Madonna managed to find a technique to avoid the media gaze when she tried to sneak by the press in her fur coat.
An Austrian girl, Natascha Kampusch, escaped from eight years of captivity living in a dungeon and was returned to her family and her kidnapper then killed himself. A strange story that to a degree I think we will never really know the truth about.
There was a close call for Richard “Hamster” Hammond when his car crashed at 300 miles per hour. It was touch and go for a while as to whether he would survive but he seemed to come out of it all remarkably unscathed, although being in a coma stopped him responding to Jeremy Clarkson’s insults and surely it gave him the opportunity some come up with the perfect retort. Steve Irwin, was not so fortunate and was killed instantly by a stingray off the coast of Australia. Other people who died this year included Slobodan Milosevic who will now never face charges of mass genocide which, given Saddam Husseinjoining the obituary list this morning, perhaps it meant he just short circuited the system. In terms of entertainment Aaron Spelling died who brought us the joy of such programmes as Beverley Hills 90210. The more cynical amongst us may question how his daughter will ever get a job again given that her father is no longer there to create programmes and miraculously find the perfect part for her in them but time will tell. More recently James Brown died bringing a Christmas Day end to the Godfather of Soul. One heading for extinction is the polar bear. Perhaps 2007 should be the year of eating glacier mints to show our support (can you even still get glacier mints??)
Pluto was demoted from a planet altogether and then was given a reprieve of sorts and was instead now known as a “dwarf planet”. What kind of Mickey Mouse science is that? Think about it... (*note to self* if you have to explain the joke, it isn’t funny. Did you learn nothing from Simon Amstell??). We also saw Top of the Pops come to the end of a forty year run which was perhaps signalled by the first ever number one record based on downloads. People were Crazy for Gnarls Barkley.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Looking back
It’s the end of the year. Time to have a brief look back over the past 12 months. Today a look at things that have been in the news, although I don’t think this is going to contain particularly politically astute insight.
Way back at the beginning of the year, there was the travesty that was Celebrity Big Brother with the delights of George Galloway in a leotard - an image that will forever be impressed on my mind. I believe we have the joy of a whole new series of Big Brother in January. Of course, that wasn’t the only reality show, there was “I’m a celebrity…”, “X -factor”, “Strictly Come Dancing”, “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” and that ice skating one, which could have led to a celebrity losing a digit, or worse, if it had all gone cruelly wrong. Never let it be said that British television just rehashes the same old formula.
There was also the tale of the poor old whale who took a wrong turn up the River Thames - quite some wrong turn at that. It was probably using one of those SatNav systems that direct people the wrong way up one way streets or off the edge of a cliff and people blindly follow the directions even if it directs them hundreds of miles out of their way. A salutary tale for us all of what can happen if you don‘t know how to read a map. I think there is a New Year’s resolution in that for some people.
In the world of music we were treated to the European institution known as the Eurovision Song Contest, which was won by the Finnish entry Lordi, who looked remarkably like a character from Star Trek. Now if that isn’t a lesson in how seriously we should consider the states that accede to the European Union, I don’t know what is. If we are allowed to inter-breed with such people then imagine what future generations will look like.
In the world of politics we were treated to the Conservatives encouraging us to “hug a hoodie”, which whilst well intentioned could well have led to many people having their pockets picked and therefore assisted the Tories in claiming that crime has risen under Labour. Very clever. Rather more recently, I am still coming to terms with that story about Lembit Opik and the Cheeky Girl. Mind you the Liberal Democrats haven’t had a sex scandal for a few months so it was about time that something else hit the headlines.
One of the funniest moments of the year was when BBC News 24 interviewed the wrong person. A chap called Guy Goma had turned up for a job interview and somehow got mistaken for an expert guest and the next thing he knew he was on live television being asked questions about music downloads. The funniest bit in the clip is the moment when he realises that he is not actually in a job interview but that those cameras are entirely real and you see an expression go across his face that shows he realises he has to come up with an answer for an on air interview (follow that link for the video). After all that, he didn’t get the job anyway. They probably didn’t believe his excuse when he turned up late for the interview.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
I seem to have very nice and friendly neighbours. On Christmas Eve one neighbour came round and gave me a card and a box of chocolates and then yesterday another neighbour came round to talk to me about rubbish collection - which may not sound nice but she had spoken to the council and asked them when the rubbish was likely to be collected and having discovered that we’d already missed it offered to take my rubbish to the dump for me. It was slightly surreal because we were both standing there in our nightclothes having this conversation. Very friendly neighbours indeed…
I am (hopefully) truly on the final, final stages of decorating and will be able to sleep in my bedroom again tonight. I have been sleeping on a mattress on the living room floor since about Saturday and everywhere is a bit of a state, so I am looking forward to getting things a bit sorted. I also fitted a new doorbell and went out and bought a hoover (is that a very British word? It’s a vacuum cleaner). How much more exciting can my life get?
It’s rare that I have *really* strong opinions on things. I tend to just go through life in a reasonably tolerant way , but I have found something that I find truly offensive and find inexcusable - and that thing is bathroom carpet. There is just something so wrong about bathroom carpet. I assume people think it is a good idea because on cold winter mornings it means that your feet don’t get cold. But, investing in a pair of slippers would be preferable. Bathroom carpets must be one of the most unhygienic things in a house. Think of what happens when you get out of the shower and dry yourself with a towel - all that dead skin comes off and lodges itself in the carpet. If you live with anyone who is male, their aim may well not be quite up to scratch when they go to the loo - need I go on. I have carpet in my bathroom and will be getting that changed when I get the chance. Until then I will be making good use of my hoover. I did actually hoover the carpet last night and a smell of cat wee wafted up. Lovely.
Oh and the photo is of the chocolate log I made, which was delicious, even though I do say so myself, but as you are unlikely ever to know one way or the other then it could have been utterly disgusting and I might just be lying. I have, however, been commissioned to make another by mother for when the relatives come over on Saturday. However, she might just think I am her “simple” child and be getting me to provide something creative and it was either a cake or a clay model interpretation of one of my uncles. Safest to stick with the cake I think. Is it just me or do they look like they are trying to flag down a passing helicopter?
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Let it end
I have to say that I am not entirely enamoured with the whole decorating thing. On Christmas Eve as I stood there roller in hand trying to expunge all memory of the pink paint a little voice in my head said “you will *never* get this time back”. Aren’t there people that a) enjoy decorating and b) can be paid to do it? I have nearly finished though and do feel a certain sense of satisfaction at what I have achieved, but as it has occupied pretty much all my time over the last few days bar some respite on Christmas Day (although there was still *four* hours of painting that day *shakes head in despair*), it isn’t exactly my idea of a good time. Today there is one small bit of wall left to do and the wardrobe doors (11 of them!!) need to be finished, although some of them are pretty much done.
While I was painting I did get to catch up on some news from the last week, as there were some newspapers that were distributed around the room. Whilst a lot of the time I wasn’t thinking about anything very much at all, sometimes I would just suddenly think “Lembit Opik and a Cheeky Girl?? How is that possible???" (for those who don’t know who they are, Lembit Opik is a Member of Parliament and the Cheeky Girls are a somewhat dubious female pop group). Admittedly Lembit Opik is completely insane, which probably ideally qualifies him for Parliament, but it is still a totally bizarre story - and poor old Sian Lloyd. I bet she didn’t have a great Christmas. I know this is kind of old news now but it’s been rattling around in my head.
Anyway, it’s time to get on with some more painting. Please let it end soon...
While I was painting I did get to catch up on some news from the last week, as there were some newspapers that were distributed around the room. Whilst a lot of the time I wasn’t thinking about anything very much at all, sometimes I would just suddenly think “Lembit Opik and a Cheeky Girl?? How is that possible???" (for those who don’t know who they are, Lembit Opik is a Member of Parliament and the Cheeky Girls are a somewhat dubious female pop group). Admittedly Lembit Opik is completely insane, which probably ideally qualifies him for Parliament, but it is still a totally bizarre story - and poor old Sian Lloyd. I bet she didn’t have a great Christmas. I know this is kind of old news now but it’s been rattling around in my head.
Anyway, it’s time to get on with some more painting. Please let it end soon...
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Say Anything
Christmas Day went fairly well. I went to my parents’ house for the first time in years. My sister, bro in law, nephew, plus my oldest friend, her dad and brother were also there and we all had a pleasant time and the turkey was delicious. I would always feel cheated if I didn’t get to have turkey on Christmas Day.
I got some nice presents - a few books, the latest Killers CD and some DVDs. It was one of the DVDs that I was most excited about. My sister gave me three DVDs including the first series of Grey’s Anatomy and… *looks all excited* Say Anything. I have to admit to being someone who really likes US teen movies. Not the American Pie type ones particularly, but the Brat Pack ones like Pretty in Pink, Catholic Boys (ignore the different title, it was called Catholic Boys in the UK), St Elmo’s Fire and more modern ones like 10 Things I Hate About You and so on. It’s one of my guilty pleasures in life. Anyway, Say Anything is a film that has one of those really iconic moments in it when the character played by John Cusack stands there holding up his boom box which is playing Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes”. An absolute classic film moment. I can’t wait to watch it again…
I shall leave you with a trailer for it. I can’t actually watch it all properly at the moment because I am running on a really slow internet connection, but hopefully it will give you a taster. *wanders off to my happy place*
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Sunday, December 24, 2006
'Twas the night before Christmas
The decorating has commenced and whilst I have done a lot, there is still a long way to go. It took about six hours to repaint the wardrobes (they were also pink but are now white) and I have started on the walls and will hopefully have those finished by the end of today. I slept in the living room last night and the whole place looks a complete mess as I have had to move all my clothes etc, but it will be worth it. Right??
Anyway, it’s Christmas Eve and that means you need to put your stocking up tonight, put out a glass of sherry and a mince pie for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph. To get you into the Christmas Spirit, here are some places that might help you:
First of al, you should perhaps check if you have been naughty or nice and you’ve just got time to send that last minute letter to Santa.
If you want to find out what happens around the world at Christmas then this is the place to look. I am slightly sceptical about the content, partly because it separates out England from Great Britain and also because under England it says:
“One England's [sic] customs is mummering. In the Middle Ages, people called mummers put on masks and acted out Christmas plays. These plays are still performed in towns and villages.
The English gift giver is called Father Christmas. He wears a long red or green robe, and leaves presents in stockings on Christmas Eve. However, the gifts are not usually opened until the following afternoon.”
Er... yes, I am taking part in the Christmas play later and will be make sure that I am fast asleep early so that the environmentally friendly, green Santa can leave me lots of presents.
I'm not sure I'll be blogging over the next day or so. So I hope you have a good Christmas and Santa brings you lots of nice things *thinks* because that’s what Christmas is all about... and that wherever you are over Christmas - have a peaceful time. Happy Christmas.
Anyway, it’s Christmas Eve and that means you need to put your stocking up tonight, put out a glass of sherry and a mince pie for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph. To get you into the Christmas Spirit, here are some places that might help you:
First of al, you should perhaps check if you have been naughty or nice and you’ve just got time to send that last minute letter to Santa.
If you want to find out what happens around the world at Christmas then this is the place to look. I am slightly sceptical about the content, partly because it separates out England from Great Britain and also because under England it says:
“One England's [sic] customs is mummering. In the Middle Ages, people called mummers put on masks and acted out Christmas plays. These plays are still performed in towns and villages.
The English gift giver is called Father Christmas. He wears a long red or green robe, and leaves presents in stockings on Christmas Eve. However, the gifts are not usually opened until the following afternoon.”
Er... yes, I am taking part in the Christmas play later and will be make sure that I am fast asleep early so that the environmentally friendly, green Santa can leave me lots of presents.
I'm not sure I'll be blogging over the next day or so. So I hope you have a good Christmas and Santa brings you lots of nice things *thinks* because that’s what Christmas is all about... and that wherever you are over Christmas - have a peaceful time. Happy Christmas.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
In the pink
I think my blogging of late has been somewhat mundane. I think I have lost my sense of humour over the last few weeks. I must try and rectify this. I shall set this as a task over the next few days and see what I can come up with from the dark recesses of my mind. A dangerous place indeed…
Anyway, don’t get too excited that today is going to be that day. I think I have actually been somewhat down over the last couple of weeks about various things and need to get some excitement back into my life. I was talking to a friend from university last night and she’s going to the Lake District for New Year and said I could join her. It would be just south of the Scottish border and as I would only be able to go overnight, sadly I don’t think that is going to be possible. So my thinking cap is on as to what to do at New Year.
Today there will be painting, very deep pink is going to turn to pale yellow if all goes to plan. Hopefully I will get that pretty much done today and without any painting disasters. I can’t say I am exactly an expert on DIY though so it may turn out to be more of a challenge that I hope – and the room is *very* pink.
I’ve also realised that there are no mirrors where I live and I am wondering if this makes me a vampire? I do seem to be more active at night, there has been a lot of fog about, which is handy for carrying out nocturnal activities unseen, I don’t like entering people’s houses without being invited and I do really like a nice bit of black pudding. The evidence is mounting.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Flushed
Hmm, this home purchase thing is meant to be an improvement isn’t it? At the moment I am having my doubts. The chap came to fit my oven yesterday turned up but then wasn’t able to fit the cooker as some electrical work needs to be done. He can’t do that until 2 January… It seems that it should have been possible to fit the oven but the previous owner did something dubious with the electrics and the cabling is not right.
I asked him to look at my radiators as well and it seems they need to be ‘power-flushed’, which is expensive and also can’t be done until January either. I had actually already worked out what the problem was and how much it was likely to cost to get it fixed, so I know he was telling the truth and not just trying to make money out of me. Sometimes it pays to be slightly geeky about working these things out . While he was checking the central heating he had a look at the hot water tank and said that he was really worried by the work that had been done on that because basically if the immersion is switched on and the water boils, the tank could explode because there is no outlet pipe. I’m going to have to talk to the woman who lives upstairs because he will need access to the loft space above her in order to rectify this. So… this is going to be a decidedly expensive list of things to rectify, but seeing as I want to be able to cook, be warm and not explode, there isn’t much choice.
I am really not in the Christmas spirit at all, partly because of all the hassles this week , I also have various other things on my mind and have just generally been so busy that I haven’t quite tuned in to the imminence of Christmas. However, I have got my Christmas Radio Times and yesterday I got a Christmas card from an old manager. She retired and moved to Wales a couple of years ago and seeing her handwriting again reminded me of all the work I had to submit to her that would come back with her comments scrawled on them and I’d keep amending the work until at last it got her seal of approval. She was a really good boss and I wish I’d had more like her over the years.
Anyway, today’s tasks are to go to the dump, do some cleaning at the old house and possibly buy some paint to repaint my bedroom - it is currently very pink so a repaint is needed at some point. I might watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” tonight to try and summon up some Christmas cheer. Ho Ho Ho! I’ll keep working on it…
I asked him to look at my radiators as well and it seems they need to be ‘power-flushed’, which is expensive and also can’t be done until January either. I had actually already worked out what the problem was and how much it was likely to cost to get it fixed, so I know he was telling the truth and not just trying to make money out of me. Sometimes it pays to be slightly geeky about working these things out . While he was checking the central heating he had a look at the hot water tank and said that he was really worried by the work that had been done on that because basically if the immersion is switched on and the water boils, the tank could explode because there is no outlet pipe. I’m going to have to talk to the woman who lives upstairs because he will need access to the loft space above her in order to rectify this. So… this is going to be a decidedly expensive list of things to rectify, but seeing as I want to be able to cook, be warm and not explode, there isn’t much choice.
I am really not in the Christmas spirit at all, partly because of all the hassles this week , I also have various other things on my mind and have just generally been so busy that I haven’t quite tuned in to the imminence of Christmas. However, I have got my Christmas Radio Times and yesterday I got a Christmas card from an old manager. She retired and moved to Wales a couple of years ago and seeing her handwriting again reminded me of all the work I had to submit to her that would come back with her comments scrawled on them and I’d keep amending the work until at last it got her seal of approval. She was a really good boss and I wish I’d had more like her over the years.
Anyway, today’s tasks are to go to the dump, do some cleaning at the old house and possibly buy some paint to repaint my bedroom - it is currently very pink so a repaint is needed at some point. I might watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” tonight to try and summon up some Christmas cheer. Ho Ho Ho! I’ll keep working on it…
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Exciting Times
Last night I finally stayed at the new place. This meant having to put up some curtains, a task which seemed to take up pretty much the entire evening, but at least it meant that I was able to get changed without giving the neighbours a show.
My week seems to have continued with people not turning up. My fridge-freezer and cooker finally arrived on Tuesday afternoon and the gas fitter was meant to install the cooker yesterday, but he phoned to say he couldn’t make it, so he is now meant to be doing it this afternoon instead.
I discovered what a lax friend I have been to one of school friends. I got a Christmas card from her yesterday and discovered that she has not one child, but in fact two. It seems that this child is five months old as well, so I really have been poor about being in touch. I sent her a text expressing my surprise and she was just very amused by this. I did feel a bit bad though as it seems this child has got a heart defect and has had to be in and out of hospital. We were going to meet up in the New Year anyway and so I’d better make sure that happens so we can have a proper catch up.
Anyway, I need to go back to the old place today and finish moving out, there’s hardly anything left there though now and then I should finally be moved in. I have, however, continued to discover more things that seem to have been chucked out by my parents, which is surprising as they don’t normally throw anything out and there house is filled with things from many decades. However, when I went to open a tin of soup yesterday, I discovered that the flaw in this plan was that I had no tin opener. I also have no frying pan or washing up bowl or kitchen bin or sharp knives. My mum’s shopping list is getting longer by the day.
Next task, to find out why the heat in the radiators is uneven. I’ve bled them and it makes no difference. I really know how to make the most of time off work…
My week seems to have continued with people not turning up. My fridge-freezer and cooker finally arrived on Tuesday afternoon and the gas fitter was meant to install the cooker yesterday, but he phoned to say he couldn’t make it, so he is now meant to be doing it this afternoon instead.
I discovered what a lax friend I have been to one of school friends. I got a Christmas card from her yesterday and discovered that she has not one child, but in fact two. It seems that this child is five months old as well, so I really have been poor about being in touch. I sent her a text expressing my surprise and she was just very amused by this. I did feel a bit bad though as it seems this child has got a heart defect and has had to be in and out of hospital. We were going to meet up in the New Year anyway and so I’d better make sure that happens so we can have a proper catch up.
Anyway, I need to go back to the old place today and finish moving out, there’s hardly anything left there though now and then I should finally be moved in. I have, however, continued to discover more things that seem to have been chucked out by my parents, which is surprising as they don’t normally throw anything out and there house is filled with things from many decades. However, when I went to open a tin of soup yesterday, I discovered that the flaw in this plan was that I had no tin opener. I also have no frying pan or washing up bowl or kitchen bin or sharp knives. My mum’s shopping list is getting longer by the day.
Next task, to find out why the heat in the radiators is uneven. I’ve bled them and it makes no difference. I really know how to make the most of time off work…
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Firsts
This year seems to have been one of all sorts of firsts. First home, first trip to Africa and so on. Last night was another ‘first’, which given I am 31 years old is probably a bit odd never to have done before but anyway… last night I went to my first popular music concert. I went to see Snow Patrol at Wembley Arena and I thought they were fantastic!
I did, technically, go on my own, but met up with a friend from school and her sister, who were also going to it, beforehand for a chat and to find out the “rules” of concert going, so I didn’t do anything too embarrassing.
The support act were The Guillemot and I thought they were quite good. I’m not sure if either band will appreciate the comparison, but I thought they sounded like a more modern version of The Waterboys (but with more loud guitars).
Anyway, Snow Patrol came on and they played all of their well known songs, including Chasing Cars, which is probably my favourite song this year, and a couple from their early days and some of them are also part of a group called ‘The Reindeer Section’ so they played one of their songs too. All really impressive and they put on a great show. I know Snow Patrol are one of those bands people like to knock, but last night’s performance was really good and if you vaguely like their songs I reckon most people would have been impressed by them (not that I have any other concerts to compare them too). I *may* even have sung along and done a bit of clapping and so on. Brilliant evening.
I did, technically, go on my own, but met up with a friend from school and her sister, who were also going to it, beforehand for a chat and to find out the “rules” of concert going, so I didn’t do anything too embarrassing.
The support act were The Guillemot and I thought they were quite good. I’m not sure if either band will appreciate the comparison, but I thought they sounded like a more modern version of The Waterboys (but with more loud guitars).
Anyway, Snow Patrol came on and they played all of their well known songs, including Chasing Cars, which is probably my favourite song this year, and a couple from their early days and some of them are also part of a group called ‘The Reindeer Section’ so they played one of their songs too. All really impressive and they put on a great show. I know Snow Patrol are one of those bands people like to knock, but last night’s performance was really good and if you vaguely like their songs I reckon most people would have been impressed by them (not that I have any other concerts to compare them too). I *may* even have sung along and done a bit of clapping and so on. Brilliant evening.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
One of those days...
I *really* had one of *those* days yesterday. We’ll all have them – where anything that can go wrong will go wrong. But actually I was remarkably cheerful for most of it.
I got up yesterday morning and packed up lots of stuff to move. I then unlocked the back door and put it on a hook to keep it open and went in and out loading various things into the car. I had a couple more boxes to go in the car and had taken the door of the hook and the door slammed shut behind me. “That’s fine” I thought but then remembered the door has a Yale lock. My brain quickly ticked on and I thought “No, it’s fine, I’ve got the front door key in my pocket.” So I took the front door key out of my pocket walked round to the front of the house and unlocked the door. “Great” I thought, except as I opened the door, I realised that I hadn’t taken the security chain off and so couldn’t open it more than a few inches. I stood there trying to think of what to do but decided that it was best to drop all my stuff off to my new place and then that would give me time to work out how to get back in. Fortunately I am someone who tends to keep keys in their pocket – so that I don’t ever get locked out. Normally it works so well… Anyway it meant I had my car key and the key to my new place, despite having no money, phone, coat and so on.
I dropped the stuff off and then came back to try and work out how to get in. I didn’t have any success with anything I tried and then I went and spoke to a neighbour and he gave me the key he had in case it was for the back door, but it was also for the front door. So I decided all I could do was go over to my parents’ and find a locksmith and have something to eat. However, I couldn’t call out a locksmith until much later because I had to wait for my appliances to be delivered. My dad gave me some money in case there was anything I urgently needed to buy and I went to wait for the appliances to be delivered. And waited. And waited. And waited.
In the end I phoned to see if they were going to deliver the appliances and they called me back and said they were stuck somewhere and wouldn’t make it in time. I said that was fine and rearranged it for this afternoon. I then phoned the locksmith and he turned up about half an hour later and got out some bolt cutters, cut through the security chain and let me in (incidentally he didn’t ask for any proof that I lived there). He then fitted a new chain and charged me just over £80 for the privilege (in all honesty I think that was quite cheap and was just grateful to get back in as the TV, lights and heating had been on all day by this point. What would my landlady say?!). I didn’t get any of the things done that I had planned to. While I was waiting for the appliances to be delivered I was going to sort out things like insurance but as my laptop and credit card were also locked in the house, I couldn’t.
But by this point something had happened that put my slight troubles into perspective. My description of this will go no way to really convey what happened… Oh my… All I had in terms of entertainment at my new place was a radio, so I was listening to LBC (which is a London talk radio station) and at 3pm Iain Lee came on and he had an expert guest Steven Murdoch who was there to provide advice on IT and gadgets. I think you can actually get a podcast of the programme but I’m not sure I’d recommend that you listen! People phoned in and the programme was a bit odd anyway because Steven didn’t really seem to be able to provide much advice and any caller that Iain seemed to take a dislike to (which seemed to be most of them) he cut off. Anyway, they then announced that after the ad break they had something important to tell all computer users so people should stay tuned. Apparently when the year changes from 2006 to 2007 there is a high chance that there will be problems like those predicted for the millennium. Steven Murdoch said that if you are using the internet on New Year’s Eve that your computer might suddenly stop working. Iain made some quip about how only people with no life would be using the internet on New Year’s Eve - and it went down hill from there…
Steven replied that last year he spent New Year on his own because he had just split up with his girlfriend, so it wasn’t just people with no life who spent New Year on their own and sometimes people are just going through a tough time. Things then moved on and they took some more calls – and suddenly Steven started to cry live on air… Iain tried to get him to stop crying and then Steven started sobbing. They tried to get back on track but had to cut to a really long jingle so that he had time to recover. Except… they didn’t turn the microphones off and so what Steven thought was a private conversation about how his girlfriend had walked out on him was being broadcast to anyone in London who happened to have tuned in. You then heard Iain shouting “The red light is on. I told you to turn the microphones off!” and the sound was finally cut.
When the jingle came to an end the next caller then came on air and said how sorry he was that Steven was going through such a bad time but he could relate as he had just split up with his wife. Steven then gave a shocked reply that he hadn’t realised what he had said was being broadcast. For the last few minutes of the programme it was just a disaster and as hard as he tried to answer the questions, he just couldn’t concentrate and kept breaking down. Iain kept telling him he had to pull himself together, but the poor chap was in such a state that he just couldn’t. This was real car crash listening. What made it worse was that Iain realised that Steven was going to be on his own for New Year this year and so to try and pull the situation back a bit he said that he was going to his sister’s for New Year and so could ask her if Steven could go along as well. Steven jumped at this and sounded so desperate and said that although he would be in Scotland he’d make sure that he got back for it if he was allowed to go along.
By the end of the programme people must have just been willing it to end. You couldn’t help but feel really sorry for him. He was probably miserable enough as it was and breaking down on air must have made it so much worse for him.
I think we can safely say that however irritating my day was, in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t such a bad day after all because at least I didn't accidentally broadcast my woes to the whole of London. Every cloud...
I got up yesterday morning and packed up lots of stuff to move. I then unlocked the back door and put it on a hook to keep it open and went in and out loading various things into the car. I had a couple more boxes to go in the car and had taken the door of the hook and the door slammed shut behind me. “That’s fine” I thought but then remembered the door has a Yale lock. My brain quickly ticked on and I thought “No, it’s fine, I’ve got the front door key in my pocket.” So I took the front door key out of my pocket walked round to the front of the house and unlocked the door. “Great” I thought, except as I opened the door, I realised that I hadn’t taken the security chain off and so couldn’t open it more than a few inches. I stood there trying to think of what to do but decided that it was best to drop all my stuff off to my new place and then that would give me time to work out how to get back in. Fortunately I am someone who tends to keep keys in their pocket – so that I don’t ever get locked out. Normally it works so well… Anyway it meant I had my car key and the key to my new place, despite having no money, phone, coat and so on.
I dropped the stuff off and then came back to try and work out how to get in. I didn’t have any success with anything I tried and then I went and spoke to a neighbour and he gave me the key he had in case it was for the back door, but it was also for the front door. So I decided all I could do was go over to my parents’ and find a locksmith and have something to eat. However, I couldn’t call out a locksmith until much later because I had to wait for my appliances to be delivered. My dad gave me some money in case there was anything I urgently needed to buy and I went to wait for the appliances to be delivered. And waited. And waited. And waited.
In the end I phoned to see if they were going to deliver the appliances and they called me back and said they were stuck somewhere and wouldn’t make it in time. I said that was fine and rearranged it for this afternoon. I then phoned the locksmith and he turned up about half an hour later and got out some bolt cutters, cut through the security chain and let me in (incidentally he didn’t ask for any proof that I lived there). He then fitted a new chain and charged me just over £80 for the privilege (in all honesty I think that was quite cheap and was just grateful to get back in as the TV, lights and heating had been on all day by this point. What would my landlady say?!). I didn’t get any of the things done that I had planned to. While I was waiting for the appliances to be delivered I was going to sort out things like insurance but as my laptop and credit card were also locked in the house, I couldn’t.
But by this point something had happened that put my slight troubles into perspective. My description of this will go no way to really convey what happened… Oh my… All I had in terms of entertainment at my new place was a radio, so I was listening to LBC (which is a London talk radio station) and at 3pm Iain Lee came on and he had an expert guest Steven Murdoch who was there to provide advice on IT and gadgets. I think you can actually get a podcast of the programme but I’m not sure I’d recommend that you listen! People phoned in and the programme was a bit odd anyway because Steven didn’t really seem to be able to provide much advice and any caller that Iain seemed to take a dislike to (which seemed to be most of them) he cut off. Anyway, they then announced that after the ad break they had something important to tell all computer users so people should stay tuned. Apparently when the year changes from 2006 to 2007 there is a high chance that there will be problems like those predicted for the millennium. Steven Murdoch said that if you are using the internet on New Year’s Eve that your computer might suddenly stop working. Iain made some quip about how only people with no life would be using the internet on New Year’s Eve - and it went down hill from there…
Steven replied that last year he spent New Year on his own because he had just split up with his girlfriend, so it wasn’t just people with no life who spent New Year on their own and sometimes people are just going through a tough time. Things then moved on and they took some more calls – and suddenly Steven started to cry live on air… Iain tried to get him to stop crying and then Steven started sobbing. They tried to get back on track but had to cut to a really long jingle so that he had time to recover. Except… they didn’t turn the microphones off and so what Steven thought was a private conversation about how his girlfriend had walked out on him was being broadcast to anyone in London who happened to have tuned in. You then heard Iain shouting “The red light is on. I told you to turn the microphones off!” and the sound was finally cut.
When the jingle came to an end the next caller then came on air and said how sorry he was that Steven was going through such a bad time but he could relate as he had just split up with his wife. Steven then gave a shocked reply that he hadn’t realised what he had said was being broadcast. For the last few minutes of the programme it was just a disaster and as hard as he tried to answer the questions, he just couldn’t concentrate and kept breaking down. Iain kept telling him he had to pull himself together, but the poor chap was in such a state that he just couldn’t. This was real car crash listening. What made it worse was that Iain realised that Steven was going to be on his own for New Year this year and so to try and pull the situation back a bit he said that he was going to his sister’s for New Year and so could ask her if Steven could go along as well. Steven jumped at this and sounded so desperate and said that although he would be in Scotland he’d make sure that he got back for it if he was allowed to go along.
By the end of the programme people must have just been willing it to end. You couldn’t help but feel really sorry for him. He was probably miserable enough as it was and breaking down on air must have made it so much worse for him.
I think we can safely say that however irritating my day was, in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t such a bad day after all because at least I didn't accidentally broadcast my woes to the whole of London. Every cloud...
Monday, December 18, 2006
Notices
I managed to get pretty much all of the stuff moved from my parents’ house. When I say that I mean the stuff that I want to move rather than all the stuff my mum has in mind for me to move to my new place. I went round there for lunch and then mum came and helped me put a couple of chairs together. It was a bit like the Krypton Factor, we each had identical items and had to build a chair with no instructions. I actually won but did have the slight advantage of having put the chairs together before, but that’s not the point!
I discovered that mum had managed to throw out all my cutlery and some of my other kitchen stuff, so that is yet more that I will have to buy, although I think mum will actually help with quite a few things (including a washing machine and so on!). She’s lent me some cutlery in the interim, so I can at least eat.
While we were round at my new place one of the neighbours came round to say hello. She seemed really nice and said to just ask her if I needed help with anything. I also spoke briefly with one of the other neighbours, who seemed nice as well. So that was all quite encouraging and I said to the first woman that I would speak to her soon because apparently the freeholder has been refusing to extend the lease on her property until I had moved in and wanted to extend mine. I am slightly dubious about the freeholder.
Last night I went and collected a chest of drawers from a friends garage, there are various other things that I am going back with another friend tonight to collect. There were some *huge* *huge* *huge* spiders in the garage and even my friend’s husband was totally freaked out by them. My bed is in their garage and I threatened to never reclaim it due to it probably being infested. My friend said that I would be fine as long as had a hoover to hand, at which point I explained that I don’t actually own a hoover at the moment – so they are now going to lend me their spare one so that I can arm myself against any predators.
When I got home my landlady had a left a list of detailed instructions of all the things she wanted me to do before I moved out. Charming. About 11pm I noticed how cold I felt and I went and checked the heating and she had totally changed the setting so it was only on for an hour in the morning and evening. I don’t know why I am surprised by these things anymore. Anyway, it’s only a matter of days to go until it is merely my own heating that I will have to worry about. I may have picked up some of my landlady’s traits though, the water is metered where I am moving to and so I have decreed that the toilet can only be flushed once a week. There will be formal notices stating what day that is, so should you happen to drop in and need to go to the toilet then please bear that in mind.
I discovered that mum had managed to throw out all my cutlery and some of my other kitchen stuff, so that is yet more that I will have to buy, although I think mum will actually help with quite a few things (including a washing machine and so on!). She’s lent me some cutlery in the interim, so I can at least eat.
While we were round at my new place one of the neighbours came round to say hello. She seemed really nice and said to just ask her if I needed help with anything. I also spoke briefly with one of the other neighbours, who seemed nice as well. So that was all quite encouraging and I said to the first woman that I would speak to her soon because apparently the freeholder has been refusing to extend the lease on her property until I had moved in and wanted to extend mine. I am slightly dubious about the freeholder.
Last night I went and collected a chest of drawers from a friends garage, there are various other things that I am going back with another friend tonight to collect. There were some *huge* *huge* *huge* spiders in the garage and even my friend’s husband was totally freaked out by them. My bed is in their garage and I threatened to never reclaim it due to it probably being infested. My friend said that I would be fine as long as had a hoover to hand, at which point I explained that I don’t actually own a hoover at the moment – so they are now going to lend me their spare one so that I can arm myself against any predators.
When I got home my landlady had a left a list of detailed instructions of all the things she wanted me to do before I moved out. Charming. About 11pm I noticed how cold I felt and I went and checked the heating and she had totally changed the setting so it was only on for an hour in the morning and evening. I don’t know why I am surprised by these things anymore. Anyway, it’s only a matter of days to go until it is merely my own heating that I will have to worry about. I may have picked up some of my landlady’s traits though, the water is metered where I am moving to and so I have decreed that the toilet can only be flushed once a week. There will be formal notices stating what day that is, so should you happen to drop in and need to go to the toilet then please bear that in mind.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Christmas Cheer
I finally started to move some of stuff yesterday, but only what was at my parents’, I still haven’t packed anything where I live at the moment. I have, however, bought a fridge-freezer and cooker and they are being delivered on Monday afternoon. It’s a good job I have endless amounts of money and haven’t just taken on a mortgage.
Anyway, I went to see Dirty Dancing yesterday afternoon. It was very good and was almost identical to the film. I think they could have done with a slightly bigger stage but beyond that it was well done. I think the thing that I found myself slightly at odds with though was that because it was so like the film, the actors were therefore basically having to be Patrick Swayze etc rather than making the characters their own. But I think any die-hard fan would have been horrified if they had strayed from the film. There was much cheering and applause when the line “nobody puts Baby in the corner” was uttered and the audience seemed to get into the spirit of it.
Tonight I am going to a carol service and apparently the church has been made to look like Narnia and you even walk in through fur coats (hopefully not real fur). It should be good, so I am looking forward to that. It is yet another excuse not to be totally focussed on moving house as well.
My landlady is currently wandering about in her nightclothes cleaning everything and chucking things away, mind you this is better than when I was at my parents' yesterday and my dad kept wandering about with no clothes on. His excuse of "I've just got out of the shower" when he'd done that half an hour ago was wearing a bit thin. I did point out to mum that he only needed one hand to cover himself up and she agreed that was true.
Two asides:
George Clooney seems to be everywhere at the moment. He’s on the news talking about Darfur, but also appears in adverts for something to do with coffee and also for Martini. Has he fallen on hard times?
Damian Rice’s latest album is called ‘9’ given that his last album was called ‘O’, do you think he might be trying to get people to call a premium rate number that will be revealed a bit more with each album that comes out?
Anyway, I went to see Dirty Dancing yesterday afternoon. It was very good and was almost identical to the film. I think they could have done with a slightly bigger stage but beyond that it was well done. I think the thing that I found myself slightly at odds with though was that because it was so like the film, the actors were therefore basically having to be Patrick Swayze etc rather than making the characters their own. But I think any die-hard fan would have been horrified if they had strayed from the film. There was much cheering and applause when the line “nobody puts Baby in the corner” was uttered and the audience seemed to get into the spirit of it.
Tonight I am going to a carol service and apparently the church has been made to look like Narnia and you even walk in through fur coats (hopefully not real fur). It should be good, so I am looking forward to that. It is yet another excuse not to be totally focussed on moving house as well.
My landlady is currently wandering about in her nightclothes cleaning everything and chucking things away, mind you this is better than when I was at my parents' yesterday and my dad kept wandering about with no clothes on. His excuse of "I've just got out of the shower" when he'd done that half an hour ago was wearing a bit thin. I did point out to mum that he only needed one hand to cover himself up and she agreed that was true.
Two asides:
George Clooney seems to be everywhere at the moment. He’s on the news talking about Darfur, but also appears in adverts for something to do with coffee and also for Martini. Has he fallen on hard times?
Damian Rice’s latest album is called ‘9’ given that his last album was called ‘O’, do you think he might be trying to get people to call a premium rate number that will be revealed a bit more with each album that comes out?
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Busy
So, keys were collected and I wandered to my new home, put the key in the door and let myself in. Fortunately, my first thought was not “Oh dear… what have I done?”, so that was a relief. The vendor had left me a nice note saying that she hoped that I was as happy living there as she had been, which I thought was kind of her.
I have a busy time ahead, I need to buy some appliances – but only the minimum right now as the sales are imminent and it seems daft to pay more than I need to. Sensible people would use their Saturday constructively moving boxes and unpacking things. Whilst there will be *some* moving of boxes and unpacking, I am actually meeting up with my sister later and we’re going to see ‘Dirty Dancing’. I surprise myself at quite how laid back I can be about things and should perhaps work out my priorities more clearly, but I figure I can move over several days but it would be a shame to miss out on meeting up with my sister.
The only problem last night was that when I got back to my house (as in where I normally live) I realised that there were some lights on in the house. I did start to wonder if yet another stranger has turned up and taken occupation but then I saw my landlady’s car and realised that she must have come home for the weekend. She had already turned the heating down by the time I got home but appeared to be saving even more power than normal because there were no lights on in the living room and instead she was using candles. “She must have really fallen on hard times” I thought, but it seems that actually the lights had fused in the living room and she said she’d not got the energy to find out which bulb had caused it. I asked her “why didn’t you just switch the fuse back on and then you’d be able to see which bulb doesn’t work?” and she looked at me blankly, so I went and switched the power back on and she seemed amazed by this. If only it was normally so easy to impress people.
I have a busy time ahead, I need to buy some appliances – but only the minimum right now as the sales are imminent and it seems daft to pay more than I need to. Sensible people would use their Saturday constructively moving boxes and unpacking things. Whilst there will be *some* moving of boxes and unpacking, I am actually meeting up with my sister later and we’re going to see ‘Dirty Dancing’. I surprise myself at quite how laid back I can be about things and should perhaps work out my priorities more clearly, but I figure I can move over several days but it would be a shame to miss out on meeting up with my sister.
The only problem last night was that when I got back to my house (as in where I normally live) I realised that there were some lights on in the house. I did start to wonder if yet another stranger has turned up and taken occupation but then I saw my landlady’s car and realised that she must have come home for the weekend. She had already turned the heating down by the time I got home but appeared to be saving even more power than normal because there were no lights on in the living room and instead she was using candles. “She must have really fallen on hard times” I thought, but it seems that actually the lights had fused in the living room and she said she’d not got the energy to find out which bulb had caused it. I asked her “why didn’t you just switch the fuse back on and then you’d be able to see which bulb doesn’t work?” and she looked at me blankly, so I went and switched the power back on and she seemed amazed by this. If only it was normally so easy to impress people.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Atmosphere
It’s been an interesting couple of days. Tuesday I went out for lunch with people from my new team and that went well and I had a really nice time. We all had such a laugh and it didn’t matter at all that I didn’t know most of them, we all just enjoyed ourselves.
Yesterday generally went fine, except that just before my current team were due to go out for a meal in the evening, I had a meeting with my boss and it would be fair to say that we had a decided difference of opinion. While we were speaking you could have cut the atmosphere between us with a knife and the whole thing rather threw me. I felt so despondent when I went out for the meal. My boss and I ended up sitting next to each other, which I was actually quite pleased about because it gave us the chance to have a totally normal conversation and leave our earlier disagreement back at the office. I feel quite concerned by some of the things he said and need to do some stuff today to deal with that (not as in take out a grievance or anything! Much more mundane than that).
The meal last night was very nice, but in terms of the overall atmosphere, there was no real spark. Although people did seem to enjoy themselves, there was just something missing from the whole thing.
I spoke to my solicitor yesterday and everything should be put in place today so that I can complete my flat purchase tomorrow. Having said that, I have not packed one thing as yet to move house, so it may take me a while to finally have moved everything. Sometimes I think I can be a bit too laid back about things...
Yesterday generally went fine, except that just before my current team were due to go out for a meal in the evening, I had a meeting with my boss and it would be fair to say that we had a decided difference of opinion. While we were speaking you could have cut the atmosphere between us with a knife and the whole thing rather threw me. I felt so despondent when I went out for the meal. My boss and I ended up sitting next to each other, which I was actually quite pleased about because it gave us the chance to have a totally normal conversation and leave our earlier disagreement back at the office. I feel quite concerned by some of the things he said and need to do some stuff today to deal with that (not as in take out a grievance or anything! Much more mundane than that).
The meal last night was very nice, but in terms of the overall atmosphere, there was no real spark. Although people did seem to enjoy themselves, there was just something missing from the whole thing.
I spoke to my solicitor yesterday and everything should be put in place today so that I can complete my flat purchase tomorrow. Having said that, I have not packed one thing as yet to move house, so it may take me a while to finally have moved everything. Sometimes I think I can be a bit too laid back about things...
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