Categories: uncategorized
Date: 16 October 2007 14:58:47
A phase of malfunctioning, really. Yes again. Hmmm.... I've heard of being accident prone but my life seems to be constantly "interesting". I must stop offending Chinese people.
(I won't mention work. I won't mention work. I won't even think about work. )
OK, you ready for this? Well, the washing machine is working. Thank heavens. The boiler's still playing up, though, and the manufacturers and the fitter are still playing "pass the baby". My door is closing, no thanks to B&Q but because my brother got fed up of waiting and mended it himself while working on the extension (which is, hooray hooray, coming on really well and causing minimal stress). My mobile phone is not working and refuses to allow me to put any credit on it. My telephones are not working either, as their batteries seem only capable of holding their charge for about ten minutes. My printer is not working, and my computer is playing incredibly silly games, not allowing me to open more than one window and, if its every unexpressed whim is not obeyed, simply freezing mid-flow and shutting everything down. My digital camera has decided that taking SD cards is too much trouble and will only cooperate with its internal memory of about ten shots. And the battery in the key fob of my car keeps slipping out of place, leaving me with no zappability and unable to open the fob to jog the battery back into position.
(I won't mention work. I won't mention work. I won't even think about work. )
Add to this a healthy dose of labyrinthitis and an ear infection. The cure is working, slowly, but the side effects are a bit of a misery. One tablet makes me dopey (can you tell the difference, I hear you ask?) and the other causes me mammoth stomach cramps, and if you've ever seen a mammoth with a stomach cramp you'll know what I mean.
(At least I'm not at work. I won't mention work. I won't mention work. I won't even think about work. )
My absence from the wibosphere has partly been due to the computer problems, partly because things got so silly with the bungalow during the building work that we moved out and into a holiday chalet in Sandown. Bliss :D My home is still utter chaos, though. Consider this:
1) All Dad's belongings that we hadn't got rid of needed somehow to be stored until my extension is finished so we filled the garage and my bungalow with them.
2) My brother brought a carload of tools with him for working on the extension. These we had to store in the hall.
3) The electrician needed to get in the cupboard which would be under the stairs if we had stairs, so moved all the tools into the doorways of the rooms.
4) The electrician then needed to get at the distribution box which is at the back of my airing cupboard, so all the towels and bedding and teatowels etc were removed and placed on any available surfaces around the house. He will need to go in there again next week so I cannot put the things back until that's been done.
5) The cat has been relocated to the lounge which is now home to a little tray and food bowls, as well as a sight more cat hair than usual.
6) The gas man needed to take up the floor in the kitchen and so dismantled a couple of cupboards and put them, the kitchen table and chairs, everything from inside the cupboards and everything from on top of the cupboards in the other half of the kitchen... i.e. in front of the washing machine, dishwasher, sink and kettle - the washing machine and dishwasher still being full ... and the room had to stay like that because my brother was coming to do the central heating piping and would need the floor up again.
7) Since the wintery weather has started, the building site has become a quagmire (think clay!) and it's being walking in daily into the hall, kitchen and bathroom.
7) We were without heat or hot water or use of the stove for two months.
(I won't mention work. I won't mention work. I won't even think about work. )
And to top it all, eldest son has found his "self-destruct" button again. :oS
And are we downhearted? No way, Jose! I am looking forward to 2008 with real anticipation. We'll have more space (the extension is fantastic!), I'll have begun to get on top of the mess that is my home and garden (one step at a time), I'll be beginning to get some time to myself for pleasure, for studying and to do more voluntary work at our local primary school (Spent my first afternoon there before getting poorly and loved every second of it) and to take part in things in the evening at Smudgelet's school because I don't have to worry about getting children to bed. We're planning to go to France again, we're looking forward to a load of visitors we have lined up (one quite exciting one), and maybe, just maybe, Tiddles will be able to sort himself out a bit more or I'll be able to take a step away and let him make his own mistakes and shoulder the consequences now he's getting older....... OK, so maybe the last one was pie in the sky.