Friday 13 January 2012

Friday January 13th

It’s a good job I’m not superstitious, today is the first of three Friday the thirteenths this year, Friday is usually a boring day for me anyway, nothing much happens on Fridays.

Cliff and Sarah Came down with Rosie and Emmie around four in the afternoon to bring me there old microwave and toaster, that’s two more things off my ‘things to do list’ It is great to have visitors even for twenty-thirty minutes, it feels even better when I get compliments such as ‘It smells a lot better in here’ or ‘It feels homely’. The kids had a play on the candy grabber, fail! Lol. I gave them a lolly each and a stuffed toy fish each that I got out of the grab machine the last time I was in Calella.

As I said before, Fridays are boring, the only interesting thing that happened in the evening was a phone conversation with dad which was unfortunately cut short by the Fray Bentos Steak pie in my oven overheating and setting off the smoke alarm but the pie was cooked perfectly.


Trivia of the Day:

The fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatrishtkaidekaphobia (Frigga being the name of the Norse goddess for whom "Friday" is named and triskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number thirteen), or paraskevidekatriaphobia a concatenation of the Greek words Paraskeví (meaning "Friday"), and dekatreís (meaning "thirteen") attached to phobía (from phóbos, meaning "fear"). The latter word was derived in 1911 and first appeared in a mainstream source in 1953.
Wednesday January 11th.

It seems to have worked. Getting a good night’s sleep that is. I got to bed at 10:15pm last night and apart from needing the bathroom twice in the night I slept soundly. I was up and at ‘em’ at 5:45 this morning and made a list of the things I need to do later today when I go out. In the meantime I rearranged all those boxes that are awaiting a wall unit and bookcase and created a bit more space, my main motivation was being concerned about the breakables, ornaments, and glassware that’s why I’m specifically looking for a unit that has a cocktail cabinet.

When it got light I went around the back to assess the mess that was dumped there last night. There were only seven items but that will only encourage some tenants to add to it. On the plus side, there was a microwave and though smaller than mine it is 700 watts as opposed to mine which is 650 watts. I brought it inside and it seems to work albeit that the turntable mechanism and plate are missing and it needs a good scrub inside, I gave the exterior a wipe over earlier. I checked the model on the net but couldn’t find a picture of it to compare what the interior should look like with the turntable mechanism, I did however stumble across a replacement plate for it on Amazon for £16 something, erm, b*ll*cks to that me thinks.

I’ve currently got a load of colours in the washing machine and will peg them out on the line before I go out, I was going to do it tomorrow as the weather forecast yesterday said that would be the best day but today’s forecast says it is going to rain and as it was unseasonably warm and sunny earlier I thought I’d get it done, typically it has clouded over now. Anyway, I’m going to take a shower and get ready to go into town and the laundry should be done by the time I’m changed.

And the day started so well. It continued well as I went into town, Post Office: served quickly. Bill payments, quick, simple, and the girl was a cutie. Charity shop: dropped off a couple of items but was a little miffed to discover that the wall unit I had my eye on had changed in price. I believe originally that it was priced at £40 with a corner unit for free. I had to double take to check that the said same unit was now £50 and the corner unit had been priced separately at £30. I even emailed my dad so he could confirm this as he was with me when they were at the originally priced. I just can’t believe that!

Just down the road was the credit union and I paid my £1 in to join so that went okay. Unfortunately, the council’s housing benefit team are not available on Wednesdays so that was a quick visit, I wonder what would happen in the event of an alien invasion would civil servants be unavailable for advice? No doubt the kids would be off school for a ‘teacher training’ day. Anyway, I had got most of what I had planned done within half an hour, good even my well known logistic skills and I made my way to the bus station on Corporation Street to get the 110 to Fazeley to get my camera sorted, that’s when things went from bad to worse. I got to the Tesco’s and thought, ‘Hmmm, this place looks a little small (from the outside) Maybe it is like the T.A.R.D.I.S in side I remember thinking. Nope. It was just a bog standard convenience store and the lady at the counter told me I needed to go to Litchfield, (See previous post) I was absolutely fuming as I was told by Tesco’s helpline that I didn’t have to travel 8 miles there after all.

At this point I was steaming, 25 minutes out of my life and £4 bus fare I won’t get back. I was so fired up I planned to get straight on the bus to Lichfield when I got back to Tamworth however at some stage common sense kicked in and I decided prudently to leave the matter until tomorrow at least.

Thursday January 12th.

I gave up on yesterday’s post as I was tired and also frustrated at how slow Microsoft Word was running and I was glad to see the back of yesterday.

I arose a little later today but well within acceptable parameters and had plenty of time to answer my emails and do a couple of online surveys, earning another £10 in Amazon vouchers in the process, that’s £30 I have now before Cliff picked me up to take me to Tesco’s in Lichfield.

It was more than a pleasant distraction, Cliff, Sarah the twins and I going around Tesco’s. It took less time to sort my camera out than it did at Eastville; Cliff offered to pay the extra sum if I wanted to get Nikon Coolpix™ which was on half price offer at a little under £100. I just hope he doesn’t want his hand back anytime soon. We also took time to do a little grocery shopping and I bought a couple of things that I can’t get from the local small places and the twins got a Peppa Pig cuddly toy each. On getting home, I thanked Cliff very much for doing me such a favour and gave the twins a kiss goodbye (Krystal is a sloppy kisser, lol).

I assembled the camera and it is currently on charge, I ditched the old microwave as Cliff said he will get his old one to me in the next couple of days and answered a few questions on Yahoo Answers. I’m just getting ready to meet friends in town; it is £1.25 a pint night at Bonds so I will have a couple of beers tonight.

Tuesday 10 January 2012

Monday January 9th.

I spent most of the weekend in bed, my legs are really hurting at the moment plus I’m having intestinal pains and I’ve developed a nasty cough. That with my sinusitis playing up again has taken its toll, as I believe all the walking into town I’ve done recently. So… how do I fix it? First up I have had the windows open to get some fresh air in the place, secondly I want to keep the weight off my legs for the next couple of days.

That is it; there is no more fore Monday which will now go down as ‘Missing Monday’. Why? Well around 2 am in the morning I went to bed to try and sleep. 2 am became 4 am, then 6 am. I was still awake when it got light around eight O’clock in the morning. When I finally got to sleep it was 6pm before I woke, so I decided that enough was enough and made the decision to stay in bed for the whole day and try afresh tomorrow.

Tuesday January 10th.

I planned to get up between four and eight in the morning but I’d had enough by three so got up and went to it. What kind of eejit cleans their kitchen at three in the morning? ‘Puts hand up’. I made a list of things I also wish to get done and hopefully by the end of the day I shall be tired enough to just flop into bed and get a good nights rest.

At 5:45 in the morning I’m contemplating cleaning the bathroom, the bedroom, and the lounge then sweeping and mopping the floors so by the time the landlord’s agent comes to do an inspection next Monday there will just be a quick flick over necessary for it to be neat and tidy, I think in the interests of neighbourly relations that it would be prudent to leave the vacuuming until after eight in the morning.

After I was satisfied with my cleaning efforts I went into town to check if my money was in my account, it wasn’t so I went and filled in my forms for the credit union and went to the council for a breakdown of my payments. It is confusing as the rent is due every calendar month but the council claim they can only pay every four weeks, I’m sure they could if some civil servant in Whitehall applied a bit of logic to the situation… on second thoughts that’s never going to happen, civil servants are not renowned for using common sense.

On the way home I stopped off at the doctor’s surgery and made an appointment for the Smoking Cessation Clinic for the 20th of this month, that’s the first step. My legs were playing up and I got to within 15 yards of my driveway when I got a shooting pain in my left leg, I was already limping heavily on right leg. I got in okay and updated my appointments diary then worked out my schedule for tomorrow.

First up is getting some cash out of the Post Office followed by a short walk to open my account with the credit union which is at King Street tomorrow but it’s on the way to the council which is my last stop before getting the bus to Fazeley. I finally found the receipt for my damaged camera and after phoning Samsung and getting a reference number I am now able to take it to Tesco’s and get it exchanged at least I don’t have to go to Litchfield as I first thought still even that is a lot nearer than where I got it from, Eastville in Bristol.

At 5:30pm now and the long day has taken its toll, I am really tired and just want to stay awake until at least 9pm so that I don’t wake up too early tomorrow and ergo be back at square one though I do have the benefit of clean bed linen tonight, there are few feelings as good as that in life. Just a couple of frustrating moments this evening, firstly this bloody PC, It’s taking me ages to type this post out as it keeps sticking but as I stated before, getting it sorted will have to wait another two weeks at the very least. Secondly, I saw someone dumping more junk out the back. Well it the suggestion I was going to make to the landlord’s agent that they put up a ‘NO FLY TIPPING BY ORDER’ etc a moot point seeing as it was either Laurel or Hardy, the landlord’s contractors who bloody dumped the stuff, << rolls eyes.

Friday 6 January 2012

Friday January 6th.

Epiphany. The day that celebrates the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus, (not bad for an agnostic). I had to do a double take and check that I’d taken down my Christmas cards and Stocking last night, Twelfth Night, but I had.

I spent the day just ‘chillin’ I’ve been feeling a little under the weather the last few days so I thought it would be a good idea to just build up my strength over this weekend and apart from a quick jaunt to Morrison’s tomorrow for a couple of essentials I will most likely stay inside so that on Monday when my batteries are recharged I can come out swinging.

I do have a few financial issues I need to take care of, the furniture and PC issues will have to go on the back burner as the rent is due soon and that has to be my main priority then there are the bills, my Virgin bill is due soon and I am determined to keep ahead on my TV license payments and finish off the Council Tax payments. It’s just that the water rates payment made a massive hole in my bank account. Tomorrow would be a good time to win the lottery, even 4 numbers would be great.

Wednesday 4 January 2012

Thursday January 5th.

It is currently a little after 5am in the morning, I’m having trouble sleeping but I have been feeling a little under the weather the last couple of days. Good news is I finally found the receipt for my camera so now I can get it replaced. Bad news, (takes a deep breath) Firstly, I will need to take my camera to the nearest Tesco’s, which I believe is in Litchfield, 15 miles away. My PC seems to be on its last legs so I will have to finally take it into the shop for repair next Monday and I will finally be able to find out what the hell my ex neighbour did to it whist I was away over the summer then maybe I can confront him and say; “I know what you did last summer.” Hey, that’s catchy; it would make a great film title. Trouble is, money is really tight now, don’t get me started on the subject of South Staffordshire Water and the money I had to pay them just yesterday after paying my rates bill in full last April. Just watch this space for future developments. It looks highly unlikely that I will be able to afford the furniture I want from the charity shop, this month anyway. I did, yesterday, buy another under-the-bed storage box from the Coop; I think I probably need one more and hopefully will be able to afford it before they sell out. In the absence of a wardrobe at the moment they are very useful. I have put out a few ‘feelers’ looking for one big, or two small wardrobes so fingers crossed, if I get the furniture I want from the charity shop the wardrobe(s) will be the final piece of the puzzle and I can finally empty these last 10 boxes and hang up my clothes that are packed in the three suitcases under my bed.

Staying focused, after I finally get some sleep later on I need to sweep, vacuum and mop the flat out, I’ve managed to exterminate 7 fruit flies in the last few days, all that clapping of hands bloody hurts after a while but I’m determined not to let the little b@st@rds gain a foothold in the place, the lemon will have to come out when I clean later.

I was hoping to spare my poor legs but it looks like I will need to go into town and get a few things but maybe, if I’m early I can finally get to the credit union, sign up and consider doing some volunteer work for them, new skills and looks good on a CV.

Sunday 1 January 2012

January 2012: New Year revolutions. (stet)

New Year’s Day.

I was going to go out at 8pm on New Year’s Eve which became 9pm, 10pm etc. I finally stopped messing about cleaning and making lists of things to do and got to Bond’s a little after 11pm to meet Steve who was being preached to by Pete the Space invader. (Someone who is right in your face when they talk.) We saw in New Year and Steve suggested we go to the Tuns for one minus the Space Invader thankfully. Problem was that when we got there it had just kicked off, it was the idiot time of night, there is always one person who has to ruin it for everyone else and women can’t keep their gobs shut and just inflame the situation. Steve had ordered his drink but I didn’t feel comfortable as there was an explosive atmosphere so decided to try the Boot just next door but they were closed and when I came out the police had arrived at the Tuns and closed the place down so I went back to Bond’s alone for last orders. I had just time for one drink but as most people had gone I wasn’t too disappointed.

I was feeling hungry but didn’t fancy a take away; I fancied a sit down meal, a curry a Balti, Madras hot, a real bum burner. I don’t know why but I liked the look of the China palace so Cantonese it was. Unlike the Indian restaurant I was going to use, I’ve never seen a waiter drop a nan bread, pick it up, wipe it, and serve it. I had the House Special Chow Mein and a glass of Tiger beer both of which were delicious while I was watching all the idiots outside who couldn’t just enjoy the evening and go home they have to shout and swear.

I got home around 2:30am and after answering a few emails I decided to watch the Downtown Abbey Christmas Special on catch up as it was on 7 days ago. At the time I wasn’t aware that it was being repeated on New Year’s Day so I stayed up needlessly until 6am. What a plonker!

After a very late night I didn’t even wake up until 3pm let alone drag my carcass out of my pit. I was planning on the traditional “hair of the dog” drink with friends but as it was so late I decided not to go. New Year’s Day is always a quiet affair anyway and my only regret was not wishing friends Happy New Year.

I spent the day doing a little cleaning, working out my finances, mulling over “Would that look better over there” and going on the net to see what I could spend my £30 of Amazon Vouchers on. I also had a rethink about the charity shop, okay they no longer have the wardrobe that would have been ideal but I still have my eye on the wall unit and they do have a bookcase and desk which is smaller than mine so I may go back next week and make fresh enquires whilst keeping my eye out for that elusive wardrobe. Whilst I’m in town I may pick up another two under bed storage boxes, the two I bought the other week although full are very useful and at £5 a pop a bargain to boot.

Friday 30 December 2011

Friday December 30th

Nearly over. Christmas that is, I honestly hate this time of year as I never know what day it is. Yesterday I made a list of things I want to get done, to be honest I’ve neglected a few things; every thing seems to be “Mañana” as they say in Spain. Procrastination; the thief of time has always been one of my greatest faults; however, I do want to complete the basic things before New Year and plan the other things for January.

First thing tomorrow I shall be on the phone to E.on, and the thieves from South Staffordshire Water. I have so many others I wish to do; I shall just have to go through the list item by item. The cleaning will have to take precedence then bills and finally I need to go back to Sue Ryder Care and see about that Wall Unit with an intent to buy a bookcase and possibly a new desk, a couple more of the under bed storage boxes would be useful too, we’ll just have to see.