The Bells Have Made Me Deaf

No, not the highly exciting game of cards (which can only be topped by a perversion of the same game - strip snap in front of a sparkling log fire) not that snap, but the Internet’s newest(ish) annoying thing to stick in your face. That wonderful invention, the preview or is it prequel? Why would I want to see a preview over every link I unintentionally hover at and because of it, be unable to read what it is I’m actually trying to read. If I want to see what’s contained on another site, I’ll go there. Snap! It’s just clutter… CLutTer I say.

Make it go away before I stab it in the eye!

Different gate this time but same scenario. There’s a route into Wardens car park for delivery vehicles which is blocked by one of those barrier arm thingys that goes up and down. Beside the barrier is an intercom with a button to push and explain why you should get in and out of the car park without paying the usual fee. I sat there pushing the button impatiently all to be ignored by the little man in the little hut who was being kept quite busy by paying customers and in all fairness hadn’t had a chance to notice me waiting to get in. I eventually had to get out and go stick my head in his hut window and ask him to push the button, to which he said, I’m sorry the intercom is broken. I had already figured that part out myself. I’m wondering is it some sort of thing I have with electronic gates on Fridays and how long will the pattern keep repeating. Maybe I should deliver on a Thursday instead just to fool the gate gremlins.

It was also “I’ve lost my cheque book we’ll post it to you next week” day. Thankfully I still had enough change to buy a couple of lamb shanks and an onion. There remains in the cupboard, enough beer from last week to see the weekend in and out again.

All is well with the world!

One of the most enjoyable aspects of my work is the opportunity to visit this place, whether on my own account or assisting my Dad, I look forward to the atmosphere and feel somewhat privileged to get a glimpse of the inside of such a grand old country house and play a part in the maintenance of the furnishings.

Anyhow, name-dropping aside, the last two visits have involved passing through a newly installed electronic gate… one of those that opens automatically. The first time (last summer) there was a power cut and the gate wouldn’t open, requiring a detour around the courtyard and through various outhouses to get to the office but I am not at liberty to pass on the “sneaky in” route since I was blindfolded at the time.

On Friday, having been asked to come and look at a couple of chairs needing covered, I sat at the gate waiting… thinking… oh no… not again! It eventually opened after I’d got out of the van a couple of times and stood scratching my head at the sensor. Perhaps it’s set that way to discourage anyone who isn’t meant to be there, who knows. I wont say that I felt in any way ridiculous even though I was out of the vehicle when the gate opened but I did have a quick duke around to check if anyone had seen me about to whack the sensor before I got back in.

Patience is a virtue.

DIY is supposedly a cheaper way to go about things but when I stop to consider the time I’ve spent installing a kitchen, I would have been better off working and paying somebody else to do the job. The satisfaction of doing it yersel is quite another matter. It still needs tiled (haven’t bought those yet) the laminate floor put down and an extractor fitted. So far so good but there were a few delays for ’snags’. You know…. those unforeseen things that hold you back until you go get the bits you haven’t got in order to do the unforeseen bit. Having to still use the kitchen, it being the only one I’ve got, with all this going on wasn’t ideal either. Then there was the problem of everything from the kitchen being stored in the living room which meant it was also out of commission. No sprawling on the sofa, just eat, hammer holes in walls and sleep with a few hours of paying work thrown in just to keep the bank manager off my back. Thankfully, it’s all more or less back to normal.

As for blogging, the break from it could have been much longer. I think the novelty of typing crap on an almost daily basis has worn off. What indeed is the point?