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Oct. 14th, 2007 09:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blackberry444On Friday John drove me to Coventry where we stayed overnight in the Windmill Village Golf Club Hotel (I think that's what it was called) It's a bit more upmarket than the usual hotels I stay in when I go to the Midlands on Community Transport business, but it didn't make a lot of difference that it had a spa and a swimming pool, because the journey down was sooo atrocious that we only got there at 7.30pm, half an hour before we were meeting for dinner, after leaving home at 2.00 pm. There was nose to tail traffic from the instant we hit the A1 all the way down and by the time we got to the M1, we were in a continuous series of jams, although we did just about manage to keep moving at maybe 30 mph. Thank God we weren't going the other way because we observed a stationery jam which must have been 25 miles long!
I didn't even have time to change for dinner but it didn't matter because it was a very laid-back restaurant, in spite of the really good food. We had a lovely dinner and a great time in pleasant company.
Unfortunately I was unable to get to sleep for hours because the room was, as usual with hotel rooms, too hot, despite our having the windows open and the heating turned off. It wasn't only us, our colleagues also had suffocatingly hot rooms, even though they also had windows open and heating off.
Consequently, I didn't wake up until almost 9.00 am. I have to have breakfast so that I can take my handful of pills and breakfast finished at 10.00, so, sadly, I had no time for the pool. We were very impressed when we woke and looked out of the window to see the golf course spread out before us with all the coloured leaves on the trees and a tiny lake, practically in Coventry.
Fortunately we decided to come home via the M6, in view of all the road-works we encountered on the way down and we went on the M6 Toll Road for the first time. It cost £4 for about 25 miles and I think it was well worth the money to avoid all those dreadful hold-up spots around Birmingham. John thought it was too expensive, though.
The M6 proved to be free of jams after that and we had a good trip home, although it was a horrible gloomy grey day, and when we drove through all the beautiful countryside north of Lancaster, we could hardly see anything for clouds swirling round the tops of the hills.
When we got home we found that all the lighting on the ground floor was inoperable, although upstairs was OK and so were the downstairs sockets, so that we could use all the appliances, we just couldn't see to do so. Charles had already cooked dinner, but we had to eat it by the light of a camping gaz lamp and a bunch of candles.
Poor Charles was quite upset. He thought he'd done something awful to the lighting, although how he could do so just by turning the lights on, I don't know. Still, that's the nature of his illness.
It's very annoying because when we lived in Hampshire, I had a large collection of gas lamps, oil lamps and hurricane lanterns, but we haven't needed them since we've lived here, so I've neglected to keep them filled up, with functioning wicks and mantles. I shall have to go out tomorrow and find somewhere to buy all those things so that if it ever happens again I shall be properly equipped. I shall be all ready for the Apocalypse or Global Warming whichever catches us first!
Today I phoned Christopher and he came over this afternoon, but he was unable to fix the lights straight away. He says there appears to be a short in one of the junction boxes and he had the upstairs floorboards up but he didn't manage to track it down before he had to go somewhere. He will come back as soon as he can, but as he's fitting us in around his real job, I'm not sure when that will be. It's not too inconvenient really, except that it's too dark to fill the dishwasher, so that will have to wait till tomorrow. Apparently it's difficult to diagnose because the power is going out to the boxes but not coming back so it makes it difficult to use a certain piece of equipment to find where the problem is. That's what Christopher tells me, anyway, and I have to believe him, because I've no idea what he's talking about
Morgan is full of beans again now. The little girl next door came to see him on Friday evening and Charles was unable to find him!! This is a big house and all the cats have little hidey holes where they go when they want some peace and quiet, so she had to come back this evening. I kept him locked in the sitting room with me in case he went missing again and cause her to think we were doing it on purpose. I found that the reason she isn't too upset about us having him is that she has another cat in her mother's house (her parents are divorced). Anyway, Morgan played with her good naturedly for half an hour before she went away. I've told her she can come any time.
Charles said that Morgan missed me on Friday night, but he certainly made up for it this morning. He woke me at 8.00 and wouldn't leave me alone until I got up. I do adore him, but I draw the line at him chewing my ears and stepping on my eyes!
I had a quick panic on Friday because my car insurance runs out soon and so does my MOT. I telephoned and arranged the insurance, but we have to take Lucy in for the MOT tomorrow. I do hope she doesn't need a lot of work, because John's going off on holiday at 8.00 am on Tuesday and it will be difficult for me to get the car back if Keith has to keep it overnight. I can't think there can be much wrong with her, because we had no trouble with her going to Coventry and back, and John just got me a proper spare wheel and tyre last week to replace the stupid pretend spare wheel which comes with the car.
John's going off with a couple of old TA buddies to visit a fourth who lives in Malta. They're all awfully chuffed because they got a special deal whereby they pay one new penny each way. Of course, the taxes and airport car park charges are still applicable, so it's not entirely free, but certainly worth feeling pleased about.
Not only that, but they've got the free loan of a flat while they're there, jammy hooters!
Judging by previous experience, whatever can go wrong will go wrong while John's away. He even missed the 1987 hurricane through being in Germany!
I didn't even have time to change for dinner but it didn't matter because it was a very laid-back restaurant, in spite of the really good food. We had a lovely dinner and a great time in pleasant company.
Unfortunately I was unable to get to sleep for hours because the room was, as usual with hotel rooms, too hot, despite our having the windows open and the heating turned off. It wasn't only us, our colleagues also had suffocatingly hot rooms, even though they also had windows open and heating off.
Consequently, I didn't wake up until almost 9.00 am. I have to have breakfast so that I can take my handful of pills and breakfast finished at 10.00, so, sadly, I had no time for the pool. We were very impressed when we woke and looked out of the window to see the golf course spread out before us with all the coloured leaves on the trees and a tiny lake, practically in Coventry.
Fortunately we decided to come home via the M6, in view of all the road-works we encountered on the way down and we went on the M6 Toll Road for the first time. It cost £4 for about 25 miles and I think it was well worth the money to avoid all those dreadful hold-up spots around Birmingham. John thought it was too expensive, though.
The M6 proved to be free of jams after that and we had a good trip home, although it was a horrible gloomy grey day, and when we drove through all the beautiful countryside north of Lancaster, we could hardly see anything for clouds swirling round the tops of the hills.
When we got home we found that all the lighting on the ground floor was inoperable, although upstairs was OK and so were the downstairs sockets, so that we could use all the appliances, we just couldn't see to do so. Charles had already cooked dinner, but we had to eat it by the light of a camping gaz lamp and a bunch of candles.
Poor Charles was quite upset. He thought he'd done something awful to the lighting, although how he could do so just by turning the lights on, I don't know. Still, that's the nature of his illness.
It's very annoying because when we lived in Hampshire, I had a large collection of gas lamps, oil lamps and hurricane lanterns, but we haven't needed them since we've lived here, so I've neglected to keep them filled up, with functioning wicks and mantles. I shall have to go out tomorrow and find somewhere to buy all those things so that if it ever happens again I shall be properly equipped. I shall be all ready for the Apocalypse or Global Warming whichever catches us first!
Today I phoned Christopher and he came over this afternoon, but he was unable to fix the lights straight away. He says there appears to be a short in one of the junction boxes and he had the upstairs floorboards up but he didn't manage to track it down before he had to go somewhere. He will come back as soon as he can, but as he's fitting us in around his real job, I'm not sure when that will be. It's not too inconvenient really, except that it's too dark to fill the dishwasher, so that will have to wait till tomorrow. Apparently it's difficult to diagnose because the power is going out to the boxes but not coming back so it makes it difficult to use a certain piece of equipment to find where the problem is. That's what Christopher tells me, anyway, and I have to believe him, because I've no idea what he's talking about
Morgan is full of beans again now. The little girl next door came to see him on Friday evening and Charles was unable to find him!! This is a big house and all the cats have little hidey holes where they go when they want some peace and quiet, so she had to come back this evening. I kept him locked in the sitting room with me in case he went missing again and cause her to think we were doing it on purpose. I found that the reason she isn't too upset about us having him is that she has another cat in her mother's house (her parents are divorced). Anyway, Morgan played with her good naturedly for half an hour before she went away. I've told her she can come any time.
Charles said that Morgan missed me on Friday night, but he certainly made up for it this morning. He woke me at 8.00 and wouldn't leave me alone until I got up. I do adore him, but I draw the line at him chewing my ears and stepping on my eyes!
I had a quick panic on Friday because my car insurance runs out soon and so does my MOT. I telephoned and arranged the insurance, but we have to take Lucy in for the MOT tomorrow. I do hope she doesn't need a lot of work, because John's going off on holiday at 8.00 am on Tuesday and it will be difficult for me to get the car back if Keith has to keep it overnight. I can't think there can be much wrong with her, because we had no trouble with her going to Coventry and back, and John just got me a proper spare wheel and tyre last week to replace the stupid pretend spare wheel which comes with the car.
John's going off with a couple of old TA buddies to visit a fourth who lives in Malta. They're all awfully chuffed because they got a special deal whereby they pay one new penny each way. Of course, the taxes and airport car park charges are still applicable, so it's not entirely free, but certainly worth feeling pleased about.
Not only that, but they've got the free loan of a flat while they're there, jammy hooters!
Judging by previous experience, whatever can go wrong will go wrong while John's away. He even missed the 1987 hurricane through being in Germany!
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-15 12:03 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-15 08:39 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-15 08:06 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-15 08:42 am (UTC)What a paddy that would have caused!
We're also lucky in having Christopher and doubly lucky in that he did all the rewiring himself so he knows where everything is and exactly which floorboards to lift.