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 not looking forward to the next few days.
The boiler went wrong a few weeks ago and the whole system is being replaced over the next few days - boiler, pipework, radiators, the lot.
In a pandemic.
With all the windows open.
In December.
It's been bad enough trying to clear the space they need to work in (yes we have too much stuff).
The only thing keeping me going is the thought of warmth and hot water when it is finished.

Good luck with that Forget At least it should be good when its finished.

DD said she's just launched operation glue-stick-a-go-go which seems to be taking her brother's glue stick though no danger of him using it for homework.

Spent most of the day catching up-the internet went down on Friday (turned out the Virgin cable in the front of the house had broken-no idea how) and apart from this and other sites I had nearly 400 emails. (None work-related, as I'm retired)
Sodding; watch out if you put chocolate decorations on the tree; one of my sister's cats once chewed them all, leaving sad little tags of foil hanging from the branches!

I had a nice chat with the Tesco delivery woman and complimented her on her double french plaits (one in each side).

The surgery tried to contact me for a new OP date in 2021 - I missed their call.

I ate a bowl of coleslaw with chili sauce and a piece of bread.

Someone on my Horse Group Chat suggested that we should stage a Horse nativity. Someone else pointed out that at this time of year we have zero daylight and zero free time. I pointed out that no one would be impressed if Horse was unavailable for lessons because he was playing the Inn Keeper in the nativity. I do slightly want to dress him up in a tea towel though.

@Spudlet

Thank you. They're from Amazon. The numbers are starting to lose their stickiness, so I might bribe my talented friend with a bottle of gin to sew numbers onto them for next year.

My tights have been doing a Nora Batty all day. I have now showered and am glad to be rid of them for the day.

Taswama - I see what you mean now - sorry!
We must be the only house in the whole of the village not to have Christmas lights up. I have tried to compensate by lighting festive tea lights. I will try and address our omission on the weekend.....

Squirrel You could invite a local Pegasus to play the angel.

Sodding; watch out if you put chocolate decorations on the tree; one of my sister's cats once chewed them all, leaving sad little tags of foil hanging from the branches!

Not a bloody chance! (Thank you for the tip.) A colleague told me today that her relative with a mad cat tethers her tree to the wall so that even if the cat climbs it, he can’t topple it. DH and I have identified a suitable hitching point.

Sodding licked the inside of my G&T glass this evening while there was still G&T in there. 🙄 It was above the water line so I drank it out of the other side of the glass and finished it in one go.

Very tired. Off to bed now.

@soddingkitten

Sodding; watch out if you put chocolate decorations on the tree; one of my sister's cats once chewed them all, leaving sad little tags of foil hanging from the branches!

Not a bloody chance! (Thank you for the tip.) A colleague told me today that her relative with a mad cat tethers her tree to the wall so that even if the cat climbs it, he can’t topple it. DH and I have identified a suitable hitching point.

Sodding licked the inside of my G&T glass this evening while there was still G&T in there. 🙄 It was above the water line so I drank it out of the other side of the glass and finished it in one go.

Very tired. Off to bed now.

We've had to tie off the tree when the cats were younger. Now they CBA to climb it. I have a picture somewhere of Dcat Daisy peering out from the branches but can't seem to find it.

Finishing the G&T as you did was the only logical choice.

Sorry I've been such a poor host for the last two days. Things are getting quite busy at work.

Nice to see you @MissConductUS. I was thinking of you yesterday, thinking we hadn't heard from you. No apologies necessary.

@soddingkitten, I read that first as tethering the tree to the ceiling. So that it was out of reach. Clearly I'm not awake yet. Finishing the G&T was only logical. No sense in wasting it.

@silkiecat glue sticks are practically a form of currency in my school at the moment, and that’s amongst the teaching staff! We drew our secret Santa names at work yesterday and I’m neither delighted nor disappointed at who I’ve been allocated.

@HelenaJustina At my school we do a 'Reverse Advent Calendar' instead of Secret Santa. Basically everyone buys a gift and it goes into a hamper that is then donated to a local charity that supports those that are homeless.
Selfishly this pleases me as the gift buying will be easier for me.

We do have an abundance of glue sticks in the office cupboard though.

[quote HelenaJustina]@silkiecat glue sticks are practically a form of currency in my school at the moment, and that’s amongst the teaching staff! We drew our secret Santa names at work yesterday and I’m neither delighted nor disappointed at who I’ve been allocated.[/quote]
Seems you have an easy gift option there that will be welcomed by most of your colleagues or easily bartered for a more exciting gift. 😆

The proper cold has arrived here, but I went out for a walk tonight with DD3, wrapped up like a babushka.

@soddingkitten no joke, this was earnestly discussed in the staff room yesterday.

@EggyPegg we also do reverse Advent calendars, each class has a decorated box and it is filled (a child puts in an item each day) slowly then delivered to the local food bank at the end of term. The children/staff are so enthusiastic about these that the palaver of finding and wrapping enough boxes is almost worse it!

The sun is back this morning so a ittle less cold than yesterday. I ran 12km again at 5:30, so feeling better for having got out - must put my light on to recharge.

Have DD2s birthday presents to wrap and get on with the on line shop for tomorrows collection. Have a 4 hours Zoom meeting tomorrow morning first.. Not feeling the love for doing any of this really!

Calamity and despair here this morning. DS’s bike bell has broken. Cue many cries of ‘Mummy it’s not jingling! It’s broken! Oh nooooooooo I’m sad!’ on the way to school. We even stopped halfway to see if it just needed a minor adjustment but to no avail.

DH and I have both tried to fix it since I got home but something has snapped off and unfortunately it appears to be comprehensively buggered 🙈 Bloody cheapo Halfords crap. So now I am faced with picking DS up tonight without a bell for him to jingle, as the local bike shop is closed on a Wednesday and I’m not being done over by Halfords again.

Meh.

Oh no spudlet , my thoughts are with you (and your DS) at this difficult time

My ironing board hook has arrived. I shall leave it prominently on the dining table for DH to ignore put up.

About to get up and take DDog3 for a stroll before work. DS is back at sixth form tomorrow after isolation part 2. After nothing more than a trip to the bin for 11 days he'll be like a baby deer on wobbly legs once he gets out in the fresh air

The battery in one of mains powered smoke alarms has run low and it started intermittently chirping at around 10.30 last night. If you disconnect the power to change the battery (which DH does for safety reasons), it sets the whole house alarm off, so we left it until this morning. DH has just gone to attempt a 20 min lunchtime nap, claiming it kept him up all night. His parting grumble was: “You slept right through it!” 🤷

I just had a garlic mushroom omelette for lunch. Yum.

Sodding came home soggy from the rain, angling for a cuddle to dry himself off against my jumper. I declined.

The central heating is still a bit dodgy. Our brilliant HVAC bloke came out just before Thanksgiving and determined that the burner in the furnace has been corroded, due to the fact that we use propane for fuel instead of natural gas. The corrosion is keeping it from igniting properly some of the time, which causes the whole thing to go to sleep. The unit is only 4 years old, so the part is under warranty but we pay the labor charges to have it replaced. DH rang the HVAC company to find out when they'd have the part and it won't be until sometime early next week, since they have to get it directly from the manufacturer. If we were paying for it they could pick it up locally. So DH or DS will have to keep going into the basement to shut everything off and turn it back on again occasionally.

My car is due for state inspection (MOT I think you call it) and its 12k mile service so I rang the dealer and made the appointment for 21 December. They're authorized to do the inspection so can take care of both in one visit.

It was cold and windy for my run this morning. My new running jacket, tights and gloves that I bought on Black Friday have been dispatched and we're getting loads of packages at the house as everyone's Christmas shopping gets delivered. I think it's been over 10 years since I set foot in a store to buy a Christmas gift.

If anyone needs a laugh there are some really funny stories on this thread. My wedding was a complete bore in comparison.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4094310-what-drama-have-you-witnessed-at-a-wedding

I have not set foot outside today. It would be too easy to get used to it.

Bell update - DS was not remotely bothered, probably because I drove to collect him as the weather was closing in. I have promised him a trip to the bike shop to pick a new one tomorrow. He also needs a new helmet and light, so it will be a good trip for him.

I finished and sent my application off, and then I made DS’s nativity costume. DH needs to make him a shepherd crook, but all the sewing bits are done. It’s a bit rough around the edges but I feel that adds authenticity.

Surgery called and rescheduled my OP - for March!
DD said this was ideal to get a bit of fitness in before and told me that her mate (from Lancashire) recommended sb by the name of Wicks and downloaded sth onto my tablet (for seniors!!!!!!!!)