There don’t seem to be enough hours in the day at the moment. In the blink of an eye the day is gone and I’ve not done half of what I planned on doing, usually due to other people’s incompetence but sometimes due to my own bone idleness. I’ve been so busy working on probate stuff, house sale stuff, Royal Mail stuff, plus running to the vet and back with the dog. In between I’ve just been faffing, to wind down I suppose.
We were on our way to the vets the last time we spoke and wondering what was wrong with the dog’s eye. Well, his temperature was down and the vet was happy with him, gave him another 2 injections, and then prescribed a week of antibiotics. The eye was only bloodshot, apparently. Rufus really lapped up all the extra attention.
Despite another very heavy cold, caught off his drummer, the poet went to work and I took the dog home. I shared the gig list and did some more house hunting, although we think we have a plan now. I’ll still keep an eye on the housing market, because I like to and because, well, you never know do you?
I fell down a T-card system rabbit hole. I’m not sure whether to get a real, live T-card rack and put it on the wall at the back of my desk, or go digital again. The real systems are quite expensive, but I found a digital version that only costs a one-off £25. It has a trial version, so I had a play, and before I knew it, the poet was home and making tea.
Friday morning was spent liaising with probate and conveyancers and another quick look at the housing market. I also wasted a lot of time researching a new tablet.
The smaller tablet I have, which I call my fake fire, has a badly cracked screen and it was starting to make my finger sore. Also, it wasn’t holding its charge and the charger kept falling out of the socket. It was only cheap, and I did consider replacing it like for like. But I didn’t want to rush into anything and regret it.
According to my TickTick, I didn’t do a thing on Friday, workwise. The day on the calendar is completely empty. I know we had a takeaway for tea. I found out that the mail I’d sent my sister on Monday, the important mail to do with our parents’ house sale, hadn’t arrived. So I printed it all off again ready to sign, only to remember that I needed a witness…
I didn’t want to ask the same person again to witness my signature, but someone told me they’d do it at the post office. I then spent the entire afternoon on the phone waiting to talk to people regarding my pensions. I have 3 personal pensions (I thought I had 2), plus the state pension.
And I’m going to be better off when I retire than I am working! We both are. What fantastic planning that was! It’s just a pity I have to wait for my state pension until March 2031 (the poet gets his in less than 4 years). One of my private pensions matures in March 2029, but I might be able to bring that one forward. The other two mature in March. This year.
I should have had my state pension in 2029 too, but the government moved the goalposts for so many of us, and so many of us without much warning either. Now they’re talking about moving them again… Hopefully I fall outside the next remit, though. I thought that 2 of my pensions were tiny too, but they double the one I knew was healthier.
On Saturday morning, once I’d finalised the shopping list, we went out via the post office… to find it closed. It was supposed to be open until 1pm, but there it was closed.
No problem, there was another one about a mile away, but when we got there, their post office counter wasn’t working due to technical difficulties… The sign looked Very Old, as though they’ve been having *technical difficulties* for a Very Long Time. The operative was there, but she refused to witness my signature.
We drove into town, to the main post office there, and the operative there also refused to witness my signature. Apparently, in amongst the checking Very Important Documents like passport applications, driving licence forms and proof of ID, they don’t do something as simple as witness a person signing something.
So we drove to the poet’s mother’s where his daughter and her partner were working on his mother’s garden, and he asked his daughter’s partner if he’d witness my signature. He did, no problem, and off we went again, back to the post office in town, this time to post the letter by special delivery and signed for, even though they no longer prioritise special delivery over parcels.
(And they wonder why people complain about them – aside from all the current issues around the software that didn’t work.)
Once we’d done that, we went to do the weekly shopping. And by Saturday teatime the dog was starting to act a bit more normally, although he was still milking it a bit.
On Sunday we went to Meadowhall, initially to have something to eat out and see what’s on at the pictures in the coming weeks. While we were there, the poet bought himself some new clothes for work and I bought myself the new tablet. I decided to just go for it and get the one I really wanted, rather than the cheapest one. They didn’t have it in store, but they did arrange for free next day delivery… and that meant today!
When we got back we picked the dog up and went for a bit of a drive. He didn’t get his walk this week because he’s not been very well, so we took him for a ride instead. We also bought our next lot of live show tickets, this time to see the London Symphonic Rock Orchestra in Sheffield in May.
That means we saw DO I LOVE YOU in January, we’re seeing MOUSETRAP in March, THE LONDON SYMPHONIC ROCK ORCHESTRA in May, and DARTS (the band, not the sport) in November. We’re probably going to the CRIME WRITING FESTIVAL in Harrogate in July, so that just leaves something for September and we’ll be going every other month.
I had a rough night thanks to the drummer’s cold passed along to me via the poet, and I’d decided to have a bit of a lie-in when the poet called to let me know he’d just arrived at work and not to forget my new tablet was coming. I didn’t think it would be here until about 5pm, but I checked anyway and it was due to arrive in about 10 minutes!
Good job I checked – and good job the poet reminded me.
And that’s what I’ve been playing with for most of the day. It’s an entertainment device, so I have KINDLE on there, READLY, the games I play for cash, and one game I play for brain candy. I also have FACEBOOK on there now, and my email app. And TickTick.
My old tablet had 32GB storage and 2GB RAM. The new one has 64GB storage and 4GB RAM. It’s double the size, double the capacity, and double the performance. I love it already. And I also have a protective cover for this one.
I did think I might be able to get on with some work today, eventually, but the poet is already on his way home and it’s already almost the end of the day. I think I might just wrap this one up and start again with a vengeance in the morning… After all, I still have a shiny new toy to play with…
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Oh, yeah, play with the new toy! Very important!
My tablet’s cracked and the charger won’t stay in, too. I’m debating whether to replace it with a tablet, or buy a backup computer, since this one’s almost out of warranty.
Sounds like you have lots of fun stuff planned. You’ve been working hard. You deserve time off.
And it sounds like your mail system is in as much mess as ours.
Changing the desktop computer for a laptop was one of the best decisions I ever made. It’s a good one, with lots of storage and memory, etc, but it’s also portable. And I have a full-sized monitor and keyboard for when I’m at my desk. That means I don’t need as much portability as I used to. I’m gadget-barmy, though, and I had a mobile phone, a 7″ tablet and a 10″ tablet as well as my computer (and a Kindle Fire and a Kindle Paperwhite!). The new 8½” tablet was a good compromise to replace both tablets and the Fire. It’s slightly heavier than the 7″ but the screen size is wonderful and crystal clear.
We’re thinking of changing John’s old desk top for a laptop with extra keyboard and monitor.
It seems the sensible way to go.
It’s one of the best decisions I made!