Sunday April 5th 2015 Easter Sunday.
This morning’s time is so close to yesterday’s I can ‘t help wonder whether there is significance to them. They are 7 minutes apart and it could easily have taken me that much longer to get to sleep.The one thing I do note is that it’s less than an hour and a half since I turned my light out ergo Naff all sleep again. I know some people would suggest I just stayed in bed. But, I had woken before that time as I had yesterday, and had stayed in bed at that point, still tired. When I woke up his time, I was wide awake and wouldn’t have got back to sleep staying in bed. There’s nothing to say I won’t have to indulge myself in 50 winks later though. That’s allowing for inflation and a cost of living rise.
Obviously there is a benefit to being up and about so early, apart from messing with Big Al’s mind by making him think it’s daylight of course. That benefit is that I can attack my post early. I did that this morning and was surprised to see only one message left from last night, amazing, and even more amazing was that I’d deal with that and those of today ( so far) by 5.14 am. I needed a drink so I went in to turn the kitchen light on ( Sorry Al) and open a new 2 litre bottle of my Pepsi Max. Rather than take it through with me, I decided to fill some 500 ml and 600 ml bottles I had ready to go in the recycling bag. I filled three and my shaky hands took care of another couple of hundred ml down the sink.The smaller bottles are much easier to manage at the computer or in bed at night. There was enough left in the big bottle for a small drink before the bottle goes in the bag.I turned the light off and made it another very short day for Big Al. More confusing than ever for him I decided while I was in this direction I might as well feed them. On went the light again and this time the tank light was added.Harold and Pepper approached and as the food was added they sped up. Big Al had disappeared.naturally and I reckon he was sulking in a very Queen Victoria “We are not amused” kind of way.I wasn’t worried about the other two, they’d smell the food.
Having dealt with the Divas I concentrated on taking my meds. I’d used my sprays and put the first batch of tablets in my mouth. I took a drink of milk to help get rid of them and then part way, for some reason, the thought had occurred to me that the milk was off. If Mike was here he’d tell you how much entertainment he gets from watching me try to swallow tablets. I have to get my frame of mind just right, take a few tentative goes at it then throwing my head back, swallow. Now I was in a quandry. I could bob my head back and forth but dare I swallow anyway since if the milk is off they’ll be straight back out anyway.And, if the milk is OK and I keep doing this, the tablets will dissolve in my mouth and I’m likely to pebbledash the wall again in an effort to get rid. Oh Dammit! In the end I had to force myself to swallow and the milk was fine but my nerves were shredded.I think Big Al sniggered. With all the dignity I could muster I made a coffee and departed the kitchen.
By the time 9.00 am rolled round I was up to date and having a whale of a time ordering birthday presents from ebay. I probably spent a lot longer there than I should but I was having a whale of a time. When came out the mail was back up again. You lot are really sly waiting till my back is turned to start writing. I only worked till 11.40 am then went through to check on what I was having for lunch and make a start on it. My intention was to return to work straight afterwards, honestly it was. I had brisket which was supposed to be in a bourbon BBQ sauce but since the sauce was in a separate sachet I did without, much preferring to have onion gravy. I had boiled baby potatoes in herbs and some petit pois.The gravy brought it all together nicely for me. I bought another one of these joints for John ,so he can have the extra sachet of BBQ sauce. Five minutes into my lunch the programme that was on ended. That didn’t bother me too much as I’d be going back to work soon. Then a film came on. Patch Adams which stared Robin Williams and was based on a true story. Sorry folks, I did my washing up in the commercial break and decided to ignore you all and keep watching. I have seen it before many moons ago and can’t help wondering if the hospital ‘Gesundheit’ still survives and is doing well. It was getting on for 2.30 pm before I actually returned to work. Typically it seems a lot of you have ignored both the Christian ethos of not working on the 7th day and the rest ignore the fact it’s a holiday. Whatd’ye mean so am I, did I claim Sainthood? Anyway it’s supposed to be do as I say not as I do. Not that it’s ever worked before. I mean how could it, I had a wife and daughter which means I was beaten from the off.
There was a lot of post but at least the spammers seem to have taken the hint about Easter. Everything was clear cut and generated by a ‘bony fido’ human being. Most was a pleasure to read if not comment on. Chris, the story reading ape even brought a smile to my face with a real groaner of a joke, but at least he admitted it. I worked through the afternoon until 6.00 pm when it seemed a good idea to stop for tea and my second batch of food related tablets. A nice salted beef sandwich with a bag of crisps and a yoghurt was nice. Two of my dark chocolate ginger biscuits was nicer still. I stayed to watch a couple of old episodes of The Big Bang Theory before coming back to see how I was doing on ebay. Not a successful day today having lost 3 items. All of them by not very much but I stuck to my upper limits today so the bank manager didn’t get annoyed. Actually it was because while the objects were nice and would have been good gifts they just weren’t that nice. There are other things that would mean more to me or to put it another way which I think will mean more to the recipient.
I kept pretty much up to date until 10.30 pm and only had a break to take my meds. Then I started the blog post hoping if it took less than an hour I could go back to the mail. It’s actually taken an hour and I’ve decided to leave the mail till the morning now.
I think it’s a pangolin or a banjo or guitar ???
Monday.
Well, that was a failure of sorts. I put my light out at 1.00 am as usual but despite lack of sleep I couldn’t drop off. I ended up going through to the lounge where I found a Queen Concert on TV. I turned off after about half an hour or so and nodded off in my chair. I didn’t wake until 4.57 am so every chance of three hours sleep. I didn’t bother with the kitchen when I first woke, I headed for a Loo Bloo view and then went and logged on the computer. I wanted to be as clear as possible this morning before they come to take me out. There was still a fair bit of last night’s to do so obviously that was my first target. I don’t know how but I managed to clear the last of those at 6.50 am so before starting again, I went to feed the fish. It was actually Pepper in sight when I first turned the light on but it wasn’t long before Little Al made an appearance. I put some food in and rewarded by a visit from Harold up and about early for a change. Little Bonzo zoomed in next on case none was left for him. Time had to be spent looking for Big Al. When I found where he was hiding I greeted him to show I’d seen him. He looked round with displeasure and moved away. I can see if the fish ever get religion it depends whether Big Al becomes High Priest or not as to whether I’m termed the devil.
I stayed in the kitchen for some breakfast this morning. Heavily buttered cold toast. It always reminds m of being on holiday in an hotel. When I finally returned to work I set too on today’s mail. At about 9.40 am I got a message to say they’d left so at 10.00 am I stopped work ready for the arrival. It seems the holiday traffic wasn’t playing ball with me, it was approaching 10.30 am when they arrived. I went out when they arrived and got into the newly warmed and vacated front seat ( passenger side for the sake of the nervous amongst you) and said my hellos. Reuben was effusive with his hiya bobs which is what his gruff, growly Pops sounds like. We set off. It took a little over half an hour to get there and there was a little excitement as none of us had been before and in fact I’d only told them about it a week or so ago. Greenacres, a petting zoo on 60 acres of farmland with a few fairground rides is what we expected.We couldn’t complain about the £7 for adults £6 for children (free if under 2 ) as we didn’t know what it entailed.We started up the path and toour left was a little pond with one solitary duck. Reuben threw a tantrum when we’d looked as he didn’t want to depart but we had no idea what was in store so in the end Ugo carried him as we talked to him suggesting we went to see the piggies. Before we reached the piggies however there was a cafe. Since the morning was cook due to both fog and mist we had a drink to warm us. Then it was into battle.
There were donkey rides which Reuben enjoyed and some Peacocks and peahens close by. But as we moved a little deeper wonders appeared ( sorry donkeys, I think you’re wonderful too) Skunks to stroke, snakes to touch, pigs to feed and if times right, baby lambs to feed by bottle. There were fantastic owls brought out to meet you, alpacas, capybaras, rabbits, guinea pigs, degus and their big bro’s the chinchilla. shire horses, shetland ponies and so much more. At about 1.00 pm we decided on lunch. I wasn’t expecting too much but to be honest I found it disappointing, very basic something and chips and I swear I could have redone my shoe with the burger and sold the bun as swimming floats. Why do people always do the bun dry? and I may be no salad lover but a bit of tomato and greenery would make a big difference. We could feed it to the giant rabbits for a start. Still, it was there, it was warm, we were peckish. Yet again I forgot my tablets so I’d need teas when I was home later. After the meal we headed for the junior fairground, the fog and mist had gone and the sun was glorious. Reuben had a great time on a ride called the caterpillar then we saw a road train coming i and Yvonne took him for a tour on that. He really enjoyed it. A roped off section that looked like an old Western Town held a model of a horse(?) and a very laid back rabbit that looked big enough to have played Harvey in the James Stewart film but more importantly there was face painting. Reuben reappeared as one of the Super Hero Ninja Turtles and looked very pleased with himself. There was still more to see like Rheas and water fowl and wallabies but Roobs was showing signs of being tired. There was one more thingbefore we left though, Ugo wanted to take him on the tractor ride as I’d bought him a tractor in the gift shop. I’m not sure who enjoyed it most but lots of photographs came back from Ugo. It was a good length ride too and just £1.00.
Roobs watched the SHNTurtles dvd in the car driving back to my place and it kept him quiet. When they dropped me off it was about 4.00 pm. Shoes and coat off, slippers on and tissues in my pocket just in case. Damn, tissues back out of my pocket and get a refill pack too. Lots and lots of messages. It took me till 8.00 pm to clear the first batch-less 30 minutes for a sandwich. I had to stop the second batch at 10.30 pm so I could write this and now I’m going back to it again. It’s been a Grand Day.
Reuben’s First Donkey Ride.
No way was he putting down the tractor I’d bought him. Ugo walked beside him to make sure he didn’t fall off.
Pops is Capricorn so he gets to feed the goat.
Excitement on the caterpillar
Tuesday.
The fresh air must have tired me yesterday, I had my light off by 12.30 am and don’t think I had any problem dropping off. I slept through until 4.24 am and didn’t feel bad at all. Since I wanted to put out an interview on the blog this morning, the time was pretty good too. Most of the UK and Europe would wake up to it and most of the US would see it when they woke on the right date, rather than when they went to bed on the date before. So, I paid my visit to the loo, came back and signed in. First things first, the release. That done I was able to get to my mail. I was really pleased to find there were only 6 messages I’d missed from last night. Those were cleared in double quick time and I was able to move onto today’s mail. There was a fair bit of it but not enough to worry me and by 6.45 am I was up to date though I hadn’t refreshed. It was time to Face the Fish which sounds like it should be a game show and often feels like it is only I never win any of the prizes on offer.
I turned the kitchen light on and a white flash told me one of the Al’s was near the front. I went over and turned on the tank light. Oddly enough it was Big Al at the front and as I lowered my head to the level if the tank, he turned round to face me. “Uh oh” I thought. but if it was possible those gimlet eyes of his seemed to widen and he looked like a sad little puppy. For a moment I actually thought he was looking at me with affection but I woke up before the dream finished disastrously. But, there he was still looking at me. I always talk nicely to the fish which is why I can’t understand the animosity. After all, I haven’t dropped many things on his head, and that wouldn’t have happened had he been less of a nosy tyke. But no animosity this morning. Is this the start of the big thaw or will I be thawwy later. I opened the flap to drop some food in and like magic the others appeared. Whoever decided that fish have a 3 second memory forgot to tell the fish. Little Al made it first, closely followed by Pepper with Bonzo trailing behind. I was about to ask them where Harold was when blow me, he actually appeared at a very regal speed, almost as though he’s stopping to wave at his public which in this tank would be the multitude of snails. With all five together and the food in I was able to leave them to enjoy breakfast in peace.
I slipped two pieces of bread in the toaster and turned it on before doing anything else. I wanted it to be nicely cold. Then I took my pre-food tablet, my sprays and followed up with the morning tablets in 3 lots before using what was left of the milk for my coffee. I lit a cigarette and wandered through to the lounge to flick through my TV mag in case anything of interest stuck out. All I could see was an Antique Detectives at 6.30 pm which I might try. My cigarette finished I went back through and buttered my cold toast, and ate it. I took my after food tabs with my coffee and retreated to the bedroom again to work. The interview was getting great responses which was good so I was able to respond to a few of those as well as try to keep up with the incoming mail which seemed to be flowing fiercely this morning. As the schools are off I don’t have to worry about the Mother’s Mafia in Pauline’s so at 8.30 am I got dressed and went out. I needed some bread and some more micro chips but was disappointed to find she had none in curry sauce still. I also got my next TV mag and some cigarettes to keep me going now till Thursday with luck. Then I was home again by 9.00 am. I hadn’t long restarted work when a knock at the door left a stain on my chair. I just was not expecting it. There was Darren my postman with three packages for me. One was the leather jacket I won last week which I had to try on straight away to get over any disappointment early. It fitted . YAY! Another was a gift for John’s birthday later this month which I hope he’s going to like. The third isn’t important but I’m pleased to have got it nonetheless.
As the morning wore on to about 11.00 am I had a text from Charlie to see if she could drop in before returning back to South Wales. I didn’t hesitate Both she and her mother Lis are great friends, beautiful women and beautiful people too. I had another text a little later to say she was in town picking up some shopping, could she get me anything. Normally I’d say no, but I wanted some specific cigarettes for Matt I hadn’t been able to get at Pauline’s. I don’t like asking non-smokers to buy ciggies but I caved in and when she came ten minutes later she’d managed to get them. I almost fainted when I found out the price though. I think I shrieked and Charlie’s head whipped round “What’s that”? “Sorry it was my foot on the wooden floor” I replied hoping she wouldn’t notice I was standing on the mat. Tomorrow night I’ll be standing on the Matt ! Charlie stayed for an hour or so nattering and she told me how much she liked the gift for her 40th. Not for the whole hour obviously but I let her carry on for about 55 minutes. When she left and gave me a huge hug I knew I didn’t see enough of her.
It was time for lunch and I couldn’t be bothered with anything that took time so I bunged a box in the microwave. Once I’d eaten I needed to return to work. It was just as well I did as it was catch up time again. I don’t know what was wrong though because I wasn’t able to. At 6.00 pm when I needed a break I was still struggling. I’m afraid I was away till 7.30 pm so I’ve only myself to blame for a difficult evening. The phone has been driving me to distraction today too, and my mobile. They’re always unknown callers and some leave voice mails which I’ve learned not to open as it’s always for Improperly sold insurance, free boilers or something like that.
Getting on for 10.30 I started this blog with a big decision that when I finished I’d go to bed early. It didn’t take as long as expected , only 11.10 pm so I shall have to carry on a bit longer or suffer a guilty conscience.
Wednesday.
I called a halt at 11.55 pm last night and was in bed reading by midnight. I only made i until 12.45 am before he book had to go down and light went out though. It must have been a bit of a restless night though as I was up again for a while at 2.10 am. It wasn’t bad enough to abandon bed for my chair and I did get back to sleep again. It was 4.29 am when the internal alarm woke me with indications that if I didn’t get a move on I’d be swimming my way out of bed. I turned the computer on as I passed by so it was ready for sign in as I got back. The post was quite heavy but hardly a problem as I’m in all day, except for my games night tonight which I’m looking forward to.
One of the posts I saw was from my great friend AC Flory, or Meeks who has a warning for a new scam which I admit looks quite real at first glance. It may be you’ll want to go and take a look at this. https://acflory.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/phishing-scam-apple-itunes/ Not much later was a message from Createspace that they had held money from Amazon as my bank details aren’t correct. I went into Createspace not using the link but couldn’t find an outstanding amount bar money for the current month where the figures don’t tally. I also checked my bank details though this seemed silly as I get payments from Amazon anyway. I’m still trying to work out if this one is a scam or not though I don’t think so. I’m still not chancing their links though. I worked till 7.00 am and then went to feed the fish. I turned the tank light on and today it was Pepper and Little Al to have the starring role as they chased each other round in circles. I wasn’t sure whether they were enjoying themselves or doing it for my benefit. Either way it was entertaining. I dropped some food in and the roundabout gradually slowed down. Not quickly enough to stop Bonzo nipping in for the first course though. Those two started grazing and slowly Big Al made his way over. I caught a movement on my left and was surprised to see the fifth member of thegang drift over from that direction. Most strange, out of bed and out and about at this time. Before anyone tried an ‘Oliver’ and started calling for more I left them to it.
I decided on breakfast again today in case I didn’t get chance this evening. I took my pre-foodie and stuck some bread in the toaster. After taking my sprays, the milk came out to fill my mug which I then used to take my tablets, saving enough for my coffee of course. I went and had a cigarette to pass the waiting time and once finished , buttered and ate my now cold toast. Two more tabs and finished. I washed the pots and returned to my room.Since it was almost 8.00 am I got dressed before returning to the computer, after all I didn’t want to off end any of my female friends with my state of undress. I even combed my hair, then made an effort and combed a second one too. The post was incoming all morning and kept me going slow and steady. I stopped at 11.30 am to prepare lunch then watched an episode of Murder She Wrote while I ate. I found I really wanted to close my eyes for a while afterwards but was scared of letting a backlog build up. I washed the pots and returned to my room. I must have done no more than half a dozen messages before I found myself nodding off over a hot keyboard. There didn’t seem to be an option so at 1.30 pm I let myself sleep. At 2.15 pm I was back in the game. I’m not sure which game, and it was possibly not the one everyone else was playing but I was there. By 5.00 pm I hadn’t hard from Lee so it seemed likely he was coming. I knocked off and made myself a drink. As I was doing it Lee arrived. We only had a few minutes to chat and say this is possibly his last forseeable games night as Jen could have the baby at any time now. I gave him the Easter eggs he hadn’t been here to take last week. At 5.12 pm Dil and Matt arrived. I sorted drinks while Matt found and opened the super slim cigarettes he’d asked me about and Charlie had got for me on Tuesday.
Once the usual TV quiz show was over we got to it. Lee wanted to be back home early understandably so we elected to go for Yahtzee first. It went ( along with a lot of shouting and cursing) First game to Matt, Second to Lee, Third to Me.Fourth to Dil then Lee left to go home. We finished off with one more game to Matt and one to Dil which left them as honours even and me languishing behind. Matt asked to play the updated Balderdash next because it breaks down into categories and he likes some of them.The board is about 48 squares and can take some time to play. I fairly romped up the board to the halfway point leaving Matt on the first board and Dil on about the sixteenth. A few more goes and Matt had doubled to square 2, Dil as about 36 and I was on 47. And that’s where I stayed. I could not convince either of them with a lie and either they chose the correct answer on my go or on Dil’s go, no-one got it right giving him 4 points. When he won I was still there waiting. I felt I’d been savaged by a big dog. As time a now galloped on Dil suggested a few hands of Crazy 8’s. I should have known this wasn’t my lucky night. We only managed 3 hands and Matt was already past the 300 mark. I was on about 120 and Dil moaning because his score was 25 but would only have been 24 if he hadn’t taken pity on his son and played a 3 instead of a 2 on him. One very pleased person and one quite dejected one left for home leaving this defeated one to tidy up and wash the pots.
I went back through to my room and suffered a very sharp intake of breath when I saw the mail. I dared only work on it till 10.30 pm before doing this post but I still have a fair way to go. Some may have to be left for the morning but it’s a MuJo day tomorrow so I can’t leave too much for myself then either. Something has to go, either my work life or my social life.
Thursday.
For all my moaning, in a sudden burst of activity last night I managed to make a huge dent in the post before knocking off at 12.15 am. I still had time for a read too so I can’t even sound too deprived this morning. Damn ! There goes the sympathy vote. I was up and on my way to widdletown at 3.38 am. A whole four minutes passed before I was able to return and power up the computer. The mail didn’t look to bad at all though I knew it would obviously build up more as I worked. Last night’s stuff was finished by 5.35 though so I was quite pleased. I carried on working until 6.00 am when I decided that I’d have breakfast today so might as well feed the Famous Five while I was there. The occasional early morning wake up call doesn’t hurt and keep them on their toes flippers. On my way to the kitchen I had a bet with myself about who’d have the starring role at the front of the tank today. The only one I could rule out was Harold so I had a 25% chance of getting it right. I settled on Little Al. It’s as well I didn’t bet serious money as I was wrong and would have had to welch on the bet anyway. It was Pepper. By the time I’d finished putting the food in, talking to Pepper, being distracted by the birdsong outside, they’d all appeared, even Harold. There was a bit of tapping impatiently on the glass as if to say, “OK, that’ll do, Close that hatch and go away, let us eat in peace.” I went away and took my morning meds and had some breakfast, a very small packet of cornflakes and a round of toast. If I forget my tablets at lunchtime at least I can take them at teatime and know I’ve had both lots. I put a load of washing in the machine, made myself a coffee and came back to my room.
I was just slogging away at the posts trying to get the levels down when I heard the wash cycle end. As I finished the message I was one I had chance to nip though and set the drier going. That would be ready for folding about 10.00 pm. About 8.45 am I took a walk to Pauline’s in my dark brown jeans with my new leather jacket that was such a bargain on ebay. I haven’t really worn a bomber jacket before. I quite liked it. After getting my new lottery tickets and having found some micro chips with curry sauce I came back home. I sent Mujo a text to remind them to bring leather food for my hat which will go well with the jacket once it’s been fed, I just hope it’s more polite than Big Al. At 10.00 am I was standing by the drier as it finished so I took things out, folder them and hung them over a set of bars attached to the radiator so they could air properly. I managed another half hour’s work before MuJo arrived. It was like a Summer’s day outside, sunny and quite warm so I did cold drinks and we sat down to chat for a while. At about 11.15 am we left to go to town so Muriel cold go to the Post Office before lunch and John could take another watch to have the battery changed. I put note on the front door for deliveries to go to Bert’s.I was expecting one of John’s birthday gifts to be delivered today.
In town we were lucky with a parking space and took a slow walk to the Post Office and the shops. John wanted the charity shops while Mu conducted her business so I lit a cigarette and walked with him. When we all congregated together again we walked down the market with John’s watch. It was a waste of energy as the stall wasn’t there this week, so we just went to lunch. Whether it was the heat or not, I wasn’t able to finish my lunch. Neither was John but you could tell he wasn’t very well. The likely culprit was angina and as we stepped outside afterwards so it proved to be. He refused to let it stop us carrying on though, so piling in the car with the windows open, we headed for Flint. Muriel needed Aldi so I took the opportunity to pick up some chocolates for the girls in Temptations. John stayed in the car. When we left there we went straight to Temptations for a drink. Ceri was busy so I missed my chance of a hug today. I confused matters by having a cold drink for a change but John confused matters back by having a coffee. It was cooler in there but I was glad I’d left my jacket in the car. When we finished, we took a slow walk round the usual shops so John could get some cough sweets ( and me) and a few other little odds and sods.I did actually only spend in the one shop, my favourite Homies (Home Bargains) while John bought some bedding from his favourite shop. We ate an iced lolly then got back in the car and came home.
At home John had a drink and took some of his tablets. It was just gone 4.00 pm. They didn’t stay much longer before setting off on the journey home. When I’d waved them off I came back into the bedroom and checked my messages. I almost fainted. Luckily there was a knock at the door (so I can’t say saved by the bell) and Bert was there with two parcels. I was only expecting one so was surprised. I opened the one I wasn’t expecting first and found two gifts I’d had made for my nieces respective birthdays. I didn’t know they’d been despatched. When I opened the other, I was really upset to see it was broken. Not beyond repair but I don’t really want to do that. I got in touch with the seller and he said he’s send me a label for return but didn’t tell me if there was another one in stock to send me. Or, he offered a partial refund which I assume means I keep the item and do the repairs. I’ve emailed back again to see whether he does have another one in before making the decision. Then I got stuck into my messages. I was tired and probably a bit cranky too after being up since 3.30 am with no catnap but was trying to stay awake. I also wanted to see my Big Bang Theory at 8.30 pm. I stayed here over a smoking hot keyboard until that time, sat in from the of the TV and nodded off. I was lucky only to miss about 5 minutes but the context was gone so I’ll have to look for a repeat. I had a sandwich and came back through. It’s now 11.50 pm and I need to clear a few more messages before bed o excuse me please.
Friday.
When I woke this morning I saw angels dancing on the head of a pin. I would have had some sympathy If I hadn’t needed to go so much and been forced to jump the queue. Heck , if they’d got to the loo before me I could have had an accident. It was 4.06 am and there was no doubt at all why I’d woken at that time today. My bladder spake. and it was brooking no argument. Nor was it waiting in turn behind a queue of desperate angels. At least I apologised when I came out, the waves off relief emanating from me. At that point I was suddenly feeling goodwill to all. There was a song running round my head from 1970, ‘Good Morning Freedom’ by Blue Mink, but I stopped at that point as I wasn’t packing my bags and going away. Still, I could go with, ‘It’s a better day, It’s a better day, It’s a better day , hey, hey’ and I dare say the fish felt a bit better knowing that too. By the time I reached the part about ‘A bee bom bom baba bababom’ I was really quite happy and ready to take on anything so I returned to my room and logged on.
I tried to keep the sobbing to a minimum when I saw how much mail was left from last night as well as this morning’s offerings. It was difficult but I managed to choke most of them. I made a start. By 6.15 am I’d got a fair way down the list but needed to break off to feed the fish and to see to my drugs. Though the kitchen was fairly light I still needed to turn the tank on and when I did so found Harold waiting for me. I wonder if they’ve decided to take it in turns. I chatted to him as I tipped his food in and suddenly both the Al’s arrived from opposite directions and took up positions like bodyguards, bodyguards who ate mind you. Pepper and Bonzo weren’t far behind as neither was prepared to take a chance on missing a meal. With five faces down to the floor and tails in the air I left them to it. I had my sprays then took my Friday dtugs leaving the container empty, well, apart from those I’d forgotten to take again last night. I got my drug drawer from the lounge and started to refill the boxes for the next week. Once that was done the drawer went away and I was able to make a drink. I went back through.
Accidentally I refreshed the mail box and brought on a new pile of mail and the tears appropriate to them. Drying my eyes I forged ahead. At 9.00 am I checked with ebay and found my trader had come back with a response. He’s kindly offered to send a Hermes label and suggested the parcel is taken to a local drop off point. Once he receives confirmation, he’ll send out a new stick. It sounds good except I’ve no idea whether there is a Hermes drop off point locally and if so where it is. I’d also have problems carrying such a big parcel when I’m using my sticks. Therefore I’ve suggested I accept the partial refund and attempt the repairs myself. I can use the refund to get another extra little gift for John. Again I’ll await a response. Actually, there are some Toby Jugs on ebay I’m looking at for today that would be ideal if they don’t go for too much. By 10.15 am I was up to date on the first email address though I’d been careful not to refresh again yet. I opened the second one. I was amazed to find when I got rid of duplicates I was left with three to do which were out of the way fairly quickly. I went through to the lounge for a break and within minutes was asleep. It only lasted until 11.25 am when I was awoken by a hammering on the door. My postie was delivering another parcel, I think he must have seen me asleep in my chair. There was no point in going back through to the computer now as lunchtime was so close.
After a lunchtime session of Jessica Fletcher I realised I had to face the music and went back to rouse my computer from it’s rest. As soon as I opened I knew it had been revenged upon me. There was a message to say a very arbitrary sum had been refunded but in fairness I still had the stick to repair, but I’d forgotten about te Toby Jugs and missed them completely and they’d gone for virtually nothing. I did have another idea which when I checked was still viable so I bought that. Being anxious to see whether the stick would mend and not be too bed I went to find my superglue. With a little effort it seems to have worked without showing too badly but I did have to unstick my thumb and a finger later. Back to work with my tips unglued but still solid I find it puts great pressure on the keys. Maybe I should do them all. I emailed my niece with some news then concentrated on work until 5.00 pm when I knocked off for tea. It might sound like a long tea but I’m a slow eater and stayed knocked off until 6.30 pm when a Big Bang Theory that just happened to be on was over. When I finally returned to work it didn’t take long to catch up. I refreshed the screens and was astounded to find I was able to keep pace, in fact I even took a few minutes to take my rubbish to the bins tonight instead of the morning in case I get a lie in. Ha Ha.
I managed to keep fairly up to date during the evening and stopped to do the blog just after 10.30 pm. It’s now 11.40 pm and I’m knocking off till the morning. Hopefully I won’t be out as long tomorrow so the backlog may be manageable.
Here’s a real blast from the past from 1964 for all you oldies.
Saturday.
Whilst accepting that I was tired and turned my light out at 12.30 am last night. I still feel it’s a little mean to have me up again at 2.13 am. Even worse, my stick is feeling very put out at the thought of no action ( I feel I should point out at this juncture, we are talking walking stick here. Anyone with alternate thoughts , go write your own book) not a burglar in sight.The damned thing starts twitching in my hand whenever I head in the direction of the lounge, and the loo is in that direction though my bladder wasn’t screaming this morning. I did pay a visit just to be on the safe side. I also took some delight in confusing the fish by turning on the kitchen light long enough to fill two small, empty Pepsi bottles from a big one. I think they were just beginning to stir when the light went out again.
I started on my mail and judging by the amount I’d guess you lot don’r get out much. Whatever happened to Friday night at the pictures, with a fish supper on the way home? It took until almost 5.15 am before I cleared the remainder of last night’s then I started straight in on today’s. Of course some of you try to confuse me by living in outlandish places where it’s still Friday when I’m, on a Saturday so my mail say’s I’m still working on Friday’s stuff even though my ISP says it was received on a Saturday. New rules peeps, no writing after 6.00 pm from now on please. For Australians, please label all your work as the day before you actually post it if it’s done after midday then hopefully it looks like it’s getting to me on the day I actually think it is. All clear now? Good. At 6.30 am I broke off to go and feed the monsters and while I was there I included myself in that, only not fish food. Bonzo was all alone at the front of the tank but Pepper came over the moment the food flap was lifted. I shovelled food in then waited to see who’d appear next. It was Little Al. I saw Big Al move at the back of the tank and start to feed on bits that were drifting over on the current (no jokes about raisin my hopes of seeing him in a good mood please). All of a sudden Harold appeared but I was surprised as he came from above, from behind the water pump and not from his barrel as I expected. I wonder if that’s why I’ve missed seeing him a few times recently.He’s getting as good at hiding as my budgie Josephus II (Joey) used to and he was a bloody champion.
I left them to it and went to place some bread in the toaster, take my pre-food tablet and have my sprays. I got some milk out to take the other tablets saving some of the milk for my coffee. Time for a cigarette so I sat in the lounge for a few minutes and drooled over a picture of Katharine Hepburn in my TV mag. She was in a film this afternoon. Cigarette duly smoked I went into the kitchen again and buttered the now cold toast. I did enjoy it. I took the two after food tabs, made myself a coffee and returned to work.As it was now almost 7.30 am I got dressed first as I didn’t want to get carried away and be rushing at the last minute. When I finally did sit down again and bring my screen to life I was greeted with a worrying message.
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It’s so worrying I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to get a reputation as a flasher, I mean what would the neighbours think? Much as I hate to do so with anything that’s to do with shopping, I declared it undesirable. At least it’s not the usual fare from the usual fortune teller. I was delighted to hear she does it for free though since only ladies of ill repute charge don’t they. I stopped work at just gone 9.00 am as I had no idea what time Ugo would arrive. I put all the bins out for collection. My bags and my shopping list were ready, all I needed to do was slip my coat on. I saw the car arrive at 9.30 am and heard a little honk on the horn. I was out within a minute or so. Since I know he hates shopping I offered to stay local but he wouldn’t hear of it. Reuben was in the back in his seat watching a Thomas the Tank Engine DVD but I did get a big grin and he held my finger for an age when I put my arm back between the seats to squeeze his knee. About 20 minutes later we drew up outside a big Morrison’s supermarket I haven’t been to in ages. I had my first crisis when there was no money in the cash machine. Fancy not saving me some. I grabbed a trolley and went back to the car where Ugo had just got Reuben out. He plonked him in the trolley and our expedition started.
My next crisis was to find that I no longer knew where anything was. All the shelves had changed due to a clothes section being added. It was like shopping by good luck alone as I couldn’t follow my list. Still I did manage to get everything I wanted, plus a big yellow truck for Reuben. Trouble was he didn’t seem to understand that I needed to pay for it so after Ugo gave it to him we had to ask for it back. The siren started. I think it was a major disaster as the siren kept going and going while we were in the queue. I made sure when it was my turn that the truck went through first so Ugo could return it. We went for a drink and in Ugo’s case an afternoon tea with giant scone and cream. He took the truck out of it’s box and handed it to Reuben who then played with the box for a few minutes leaving me with the truck at the till. When w were sat at the table Reuben started playing with the truck on the floor. He was so engrossed I managed a bacon bap with no help. Once we’d finished, I went to buy my cigarettes and asked about some ultra slim ones- not More. They came up with some where I couldn’t believe they had 20 in the packet and they were only the ordinary length. They were £9.20, just 20p less than the super length More brand. Matt will have to go back to his normal style 10 a week I think. Sorry Matt. We went outside where I had a cigarette while Ugo loaded Reuben and the shopping into the car then set off home. I asked if he’s stop off on the way at a cash machine since I’d had to use my card in the store. He agreed and we stopped at a cash machine in Flint which still had some in.
At home is was getting on for 12.30 pm and Ugo helped me unload, waited for me to supply the siren with some chocolate lollies then departed with a hug to collect Yvonne from work. I waved them off then started unpacking the bags and putting the food away. First job when that was done was to arrange Ju’s flowers in a vase. I think I made a reasonable job of it, be fair, Ju didn’t complain.
Once that was done I made myself some lunch, had the tablets and came back through to work. I was determined to take a break at 2.15 pm to watch the Katie Hepburn film so didn’t need any encouragement to work. Lucky for me that though there was a lot of post in the 4 hours I was out, none of it was problematical. I actually zipped through a fair bit of it before it was time to go. I had to keep slapping myself around the face to make sure I stayed awake but the bruises are so worth it. It’s just as well Ju had a crush on Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott so she was very forgiving when my tongue used to hang out if the fantastic Ms Hepburn came on screen. Anyone else and the tongue might have ended up a lot shorter. Once it was over I told myself that 40 winks wasn’t a good idea but promised myself I’d see what could be done later. I just didn’t say how much later to avoid disappointments.
Like a certain brand of batteries I just kept going and going. The yawns were nearly wide enough to take the keyboard but I remembered I’d already eaten. At 6.00 pm I stretched my legs by going to turn of the light in the tank and say goodnight to the fish. There were some chocolate jaffa cake rolls near the microwave so I ate two in case they melted. Microwave = heat, see how logical I can be even when I’m tired. Then it was back to work again. As usual I knocked off at 10.30 to see to the blog and iot’s 11.40 pm now. I think I’ll have to just pop back and try to finish a few more before calling it a night. Which it is, a night I mean. So I couldn’t call it much else.
I wish you all a Great New Week full of joy and Hugs.
barsetshirediaries 