Come and tell me your dull and unexciting news 7: Calmly through the day

[MissConductUS]

I've started a new one. Please join us and share the boring and mundane things happening in your world. It will be calming for all.

I am considering buying a juicer. But the deliberations over this will probably take several months.

I have just filled the garden recycling bin. Tomorrow is the last collection until next March and as we have to pay extra for it I was determined to get my moneys worth

Sodding broke a vase this morning in delinquent mode. He was unrepentant. I would ground him, but DH broke the same vase when it was newly purchased and this was #2. I am chalking it up as ill-fated decor and have decided to let it go. The dried stick/flower arrangement that Sodding was trying to get at when he knocked the vase off the counter is currently hidden in a cupboard. It would be madness to try again with a new vase, wouldn’t it?

Just had mac and cheese and a couple of mince pies and a cup of tea.

DH is now sleeping. Electrician came and said we need a bit of work done and he will send a quote.

I've messaged school to remind them children have orthodontist tomorrow morning.

I just heard some baby gate bashing, that'll either be rabbit or cat, 99.999% chance its rabbit.

It would be madness to try again with a new vase, wouldn’t it?

Perhaps not if you skip the dried flowers, but then what's the point of an empty vase? I had to remove anything breakable from the fireplace mantle because a certain male cat who shall be nameless thought the mantle was a catwalk and kept leaping up onto it and knocking off whatever was in his landing spot.

I have a zoom meeting in an hour and another at 1400, so pretty light day.

We've had an ongoing issue with the furnace. Most of the time it's fine, but once in awhile, it won't come on when the thermostat calls for heat. The only way to get it going again was to cut power to the furnace completely and turn it back on. We had the thermostat replaced a month or so ago but that didn't fix it. And it was always working when our HVAC bloke came to look at it. DH learned last week that the circuit board inside the furnace has a light on it that blinks when there's a fault and the number of blinks identifies the fault. It's finally happened this morning and DH was able to count the number of blinks and the HVAC bloke is coming back at the end of the day. DH says that when he called it in this morning they were a bit cross with him that he hadn't left it off with the light blinking. It's 4 degrees out and we were not going without heat for the day.

This is Dcat, recovering from her vet visit yesterday and recharging her solar batteries.

Currently just having a little lunch break between typing up the references for my poster. I had a cheese and coleslaw sandwich and, instead of the Speculoos biscuit I was going to have afterwards, I have had an apple, so feeling very virtuous
It's getting a bit dark outside, I hope it doesn't rain as I have hung out all the washing. BBC says only an 11% chance of rain......
OP I hope you can get your boiler fixed.

I had reheated mac and cheese for lunch too, with a Penguin for afters. The industrial strength microwave in our work kitchen nuked some of the macaroni to a pleasing level of cheesy-crispiness. I will attempt to recreate the effect at home next time I make it.

There’s hardly anyone in my building today, I don’t have wall-to-wall Zoom calls (unusual) and I broke the back of a big task yesterday. I’ve still got loads to do but I am so bored. The office clock is ticking too loudly.

A new sideboard has arrived. We had been talking about getting one for years. Now I have an excuse to buy some new crockery, probably blue denby.

I’m hungry. Also the sun is out and I’ve reached a natural break point. I might go and forage for some food (in the coffee shop).

Thanks @sproutsandparsnips. It''s not an emergency as we can get it going again, but if it goes off in the middle of the night it can be quite cold when I get up in the morning. And there's the bother of having to go down to the basement to restart it. The furnace is only 4 years old, so the parts are still under warranty.

DD just texted me that her covid test was negative. She got the results in 36 hours, much faster than I was expecting. She's still not feeling great, so she probably has a cold

I had reheated mac and cheese for lunch too, with a Penguin for afters. The industrial strength microwave in our work kitchen nuked some of the macaroni to a pleasing level of cheesy-crispiness. I will attempt to recreate the effect at home next time I make it.

Leftover mac and cheese is the food of the gods. If it's a bit dry or thick just stir in some milk before reheating it.

I think of a furnace as blazing hot, hot enough to smelt metal. A boiler on the other hand suggests only the boiling point of water, 100C or 212 F, so less scary!

In boring news a lorry has just unloaded some girders for a nearby building project.

I feel like there was an American kid’s TV program from the ‘80s or ‘90s where there was a child who was scared of the furnace in the basement - I want to say Ramona, or something like that. Does anyone else recognise it??

There’s some sawdust in the corridor. But no men, in high vis or otherwise.

Yes! I think it was Ramona by, I think, Beverley Cleary?

We had a boiler in our last house. It heated water, which was then pumped through radiators to heat the house. Our current heating system is forced air, so a gas flame heats air, which is then blown through ducts into the living areas. Since there's no after involved I don't think you could call it a boiler. They are called furnaces here:

www.york.com/residential-equipment/heating-and-cooling/gas-furnaces

@Squirrel26 - I remember that program too but can't recall the name of it. There was also a scary furnace scene in the movie Home Alone.

I wish I had a hi vis jacket and a hard hat. I would wear them and stride around places, and I bet people would just let me. I properly laughed at “visibility is excellent” though!!

My meeting this afternoon is cancelled so I am drinking some tea and catching up on a million emails.

Actually, it wasn’t cancelled, it is every 2 weeks apparently. I thought it was every week and planned accordingly. It’s still a great.

@Squirrel26 Kevin in Home Alone was scared of the furnace. Was that it? Also, where is the sawdust from?

@MissConductUS Vase is a good one for for your ongoing Britishness. We pronounce it varrrse, not vay-ce. Great news about your DD. Means you can be Boston bound with no additional stress tomorrow.

DS1 took pasta in cheese and tomato sauce to school in his new thermos today. He reported that it was still warm and very nice but the he could have eaten more. So I think I'll get him a bigger one. I also took pasta to work in my thermos today, but mine was filled butternut squash pasta. It was the perfect temperature at lunchtime.

@Spudlet

I am considering buying a juicer. But the deliberations over this will probably take several months.

I am considering one of those pod coffee machines. In a similar manner this would normally take several months, though Black Friday may tip my hand into action

Cross post @MissConductUS!

I am considering one of those pod coffee machines. In a similar manner this would normally take several months, though Black Friday may tip my hand into action

If you mean the ones that use the little plastic cups with a paperish top filled with coffee, I've looked at them too but steered clear. The pods are expensive, create a great deal of waste plastic and the final blow is that they make weak coffee. There's hardly any coffee in the pods and the "coffee" they make tastes like coffee-flavored water to me. Not proper coffee at all.

Rant over.

Back from work and caught up with all your cute socks and cat pictures. I skip the maple syrup debate as it's not common here. We use stroop instead.

Work mate reprimanded me for being stressed and making silly mistakes the last fortnight. She was right (DS, pain, work, isolation) and I'll pull myself together.

DS got a 1- (15 points ca. 89%) in his oral - that should give him a boost and calm me down.

I ate a hanuta riegel.

Did some cleaning of the stairs and around them then had a bath.

Now drinking tea and DH is having another nap. Both children are back from school. Did DS's business studies test.

Heard from the electrician - he says the work that needs doing before he can pass it doesn't involve needing to replaster or repaint so that's good and he will send an estimate tomorrow. He wouldn't say if it was in the hundreds or over a thousand pounds which is a bit worrying but will see tomorrow.

DS says when rabbit sits on mega-floof he has all 4 paws underneath him and says he sits on mega-floof rug a lot.

Well, Sodding has outdone himself today. 🙄 I arrived home to a shredded bog roll on the dining room floor. This is a new ‘hobby’ and an annoying one. Looks like he had fun killing it but what mess! I’m getting an ominous feeling about putting up the Christmas tree.

I have put the breaded chicken and chips in the oven. No prizes for culinary excellence here today.

I think you’re thinking of cup filters, MissConduct. The pod machines usually produce decent coffee but in teeny portions. Here’s an example of the pods: www.nespresso.com/uk/en/order/capsules/original?name=nav&id=coffee-menu&creative=Buy-Original-Capsules&position=1-2 I had an ad on Instagram a while ago for refillable stainless steel pods to fit the main brands, which would reduce the environmental impact.