Month: February 2010

Back on track …. (?)

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   Really could not be bothered posting anything on Thursday. Work had been tiresome again, and I had actually felt a bit off colour. I had that feeling that was ‘not quite a hangover, but close’ type of feeling. It did cross my mind that I had the beginnings of flu. However it was neither. Friday was much the same, but without the ill feeling. Quite tired though, so maybe I had been ill on Thursday !! Or maybe it was the thought of the next phase in the decorating.

   I started the hall, or is it the vestibule ?? Now this place is green. A mid shade of green, but  more dark than light. Painting the roof went very well. Two coats went on easy, and took no time at all. It was the walls that were the problem. For some reason, and I put it down the surface of the previous paint, the white base coat just did not seem to want to take. So the end result is patchy to say the least. Mrs H thinks she may be able to give it another coat this week sometime, which will be a help.

   Eldest was was up yesterday. It was the the ‘Strawberry Jam’ music event at the Albion pub in Clifford last night. Another good night. I think it’s the atmosphere that makes all the difference. There is an ‘open mike’ slot, and the people that get up are not what you might call well practised. But, give them their dues, they get up and give it a go, which is something I could not do. So it was a bit of a late night all in all. We did not get home until 00:30, and I fancied a brandy (a bad idea !!) It was gone 1am when we went to bed. Today, I had a bit of that Thursday feeling again. Still nothing to do today,but take the eldest home.

……and another long week……

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   Work is beginning to get a little tiresome. Well maybe I should say, a little more tiresome. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good hard working people in the office. There are just more, who are not. People, for who second or third best is good enough. I do not like ‘good enough’. It smacks of complacency. Maybe it is because I’m a bit of a perfectionist, but the old adage ‘if a jobs worth doing……etc’ should apply. Take the wallpapering!! If I had the attitude that some of my colleagues have, then I could have put that paper on the wall in 1 hour, instead of 2½ hours it took me. But it would not have been done properly …. it would have just been second best. Here endeth the ‘rant of the day’.

   The new doors were finally finished, and they look very good. They are a light oak, with stainless steel fittings. We have been advised, not to varnish them, but to use linseed oil as a preservative. Something which I quite agree with. The oil really brings the grain of the wood out. It is so easy to apply, and as it is absorbed by the wood, it of course does not add any thickness. I think Mrs H is quite up for doing the oiling. With them being internal doors, i think they will only need doing every two years.

   Eldest is home for the night. He is in the old people show on Saturday. He is doing a stand-up routine, but has not really got any material. Fingers crossed it will be okay. We then have the local music gig on Saturday night. It’s called Strawberry Jam, at the Albion in Clifford. If it is half as good as last time, it will be a good night.

A long week ……

/ Tony / 1 Comment

   I did not get chance to post over the past few days. Decorating seemed to have taken over a little.

   In the end, I only put one base coat on the walls. Mrs H was in a hurry to get it all finished, and to be perfectly honest, so was I. The walls did need two top coats, as expected, but it covered well, and looks quite good. I did a bit of ‘glossing’, but then Mrs H decided that she preferred a silk finish to the woodwork. Glad I had only done a small amount.

   I started the wall papering on Friday, and got it finLiving roomished first thing Saturday morning. Well pleased !! I really enjoy wall papering. I  get a great deal of satisfaction out making it look as perfect as possible. I think that it’s the fiddly bits that I enjoy. The cutting around plug sockets and the like. This particular wall, only had six full lengths, but only two of them were straight, without any extra work. Next job……the dining room. A smaller room, but with more stuff to move. We are having new internal doors fitted tomorrow. I may post ‘before & after’ pics.

   Eldest came up on Wednesday, and me and him went for a pint at the ‘Lion. He also came on Friday and stopped until Sunday, which was nice. We took him and his flatmate out for a meal on the Friday evening. He/they seem to be keeping their new place really tidy. We were both very impressed.

   All three of us (youngest was on respite) went to the 2nd Boston Spa Beer Boston Spa village hall Festival, at the village hall. We got there about 2:30, and it was nearly 8:30 when we left !!! Tried a lot of interesting beers/ales, and it was a great afternoon. Took him back Sunday lunchtime. We were all a bit apprehensive, as his flatmate was having some of his friends around on Saturday night, and I think we all expected the flat to be trashed. It was surprisingly in an excellent condition. A coffee table full of empty beer cans was the only evidence of any visitors at all. Well done R** !!

   Well that’s the week covered, apart from a trip to Harrgate today, to finish the holiday off. Back to the grind-stone tomorrow.  ** Latest news though, was that the eldest had been out looking for a job today. He was filling in application forms for a couple of restaurants really close by to his flat. One of which was currently looking for staff. So fingers crossed **

First day ….

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   I am absolutely knackered !!!! I still have not recovered from the move on Saturday. Painting and decorating going quite well. Managed to get the ceiling done. Starting on the walls tomorrow. I should get the base coat and the two top coats on 3/4 of the walls done. Then I’ll have to move my computer desk !!!! a bit like having a tooth out, if you know what I mean !!!!!

   Looks like S**** is coming home for the night tomorrow. Mrs H must have rung him. 

   Quiz-nite tonight, but I gave up half way through. Not a lot of fun on your own.

More panic ….

/ Tony / Leave a comment

Mrs H got a call from the letting agent this morning. They had tried to get hold of either of the two lads, as they needed the old flat key. They said they have to go and check it, but I suspect that they may have someone else lined up to move in. Of course, nobody could reach either of them. Both phones were going to voicemail, so I suspect they had switched them off. It appears that they had spent all night working on their Uni stuff, and had only got to bed at 05:00 this morning. Hence the difficulty in waking them.

Dad to the rescue!! I drove round to his new place, managed to knock them up and then drove to the agents with the keys. All done!

His room is a tip though. I know they’ve not been in long, but all his bags of clothes were still piled up on the bedroom floor. Hopefully he’ll get it sorted today.

Weekend all gone…..

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   The flat move went as well as can be expected. It was hard work though. I arrived at his place, at around 10:30, and it was around 21:00 when I managed to get away. R*** was not away, so Mrs H could not help at all. R***’s dad came and moved most of R***’s stuff, and the really heavy items in his van, but after two trips, he had gone. That left me, to finish of and lock up. I suppose S**** could have come with me for the last trip, but I felt that he wanted to start getting his flat in order. Took me about an hour or so to pack all the last bits up. And they were just bits. If I had had a crate or something, it could have been easier. Still it’s done, and the new place seems to be a lot better. Fingers crossed, they keep it tidy.

   A bit of a rest today, if you can call three loads of washing a rest !!! My legs seem to ache a lot. I think it is the knees that are the problem. I’m sat here with support bandages on both knees. It seems to work. When you think, I must have walked up and down the steps in S****’s old flat, at least 30 times yesterday (3 flights of stone staircase each way), its no wonder I’m in the state I’m in. Too old for this kind of game.

Just like starting over ….

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   Eldest moves into his new flat tomorrow !! They went and had a look today, and signed on the dotted line there and then. So now Dad’s Removal service comes into play. Saturday is going to be a long long day. From all accounts, the new flat is better than the old one. But it’s going to take a bit of time to get everything moved. R**’s dad, is coming across with a van for the big stuff, but it’s not too clear at what time. Mrs H appears to be a bit happier about it all now. Looks like it could work out for the better. I’ll have a look at the security at the new flat, though, and we may get the police crime prevention lot to take a look. The letting agents are going to love us.

   So what else has happened. Not a lot really. Work grinds on the same. Nothing much changes there. The same people, playing their silly games. I have a few days off next week. We (that is the ‘Royal We’ aka Mrs H) were going to make a start on the decorating. We both feel, that the walls would benefit from an undercoat of white paint, before the top coat. The walls are quite bright colours, and the new colour is a lot lighter. But cleaning down is going to be the biggest job, that and painting the ceiling. It’s not a big room, until you have to start painting, and it is impossible to move everything out, so it’s a case of climbing and clambering.

Not a good start .. then gets worse

/ Tony / 2 Comments

   This week has started so bad. Work was the usual mix of coping with half-wits, and then it got worse !!

   I got home to find that the eldest lad had had his flat robbed. Bad part about it was that they were in at the time !!!! Even worse, one of the bast*rds had a gun !! S**** thinks it was a BB gun, but that is not the point, it may not have been. Apparently, what happened was that someone knocked on their flat door. His flatmate went to answer it, and was confronted by two people, and one was carrying a gun, covered with a cloth of some sorts. The robbers then started putting S**** and R**’s stuff into bags. Got away with a couple of laptops, mobiles and some other computer stuff.

   I trolled off down to his flat as soon as I got in, to find that they had gone off to the local Police station to make statements. This was about 6:15pm. After a lot of waiting about, they finally got back into their flat at around 11:15pm. I got home around 11:50pm. Both lads seemed to be okay. Very shook up and very tired.

   Mrs H was a complete wreck !!!! She has only just got used to him being so independent, and then this happens, and sets her back 6 months. no sleep for her last night, and I can’t see her getting much tonight either.

   Things seem to be moving fast though. S**** has got some of his stuff back, and some people have been arrested. They are both going to an ‘ID parade’ tomorrow, so we will see what happens then. 

   To be continued ……

Over so soon …..

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   That’s the weekend then !

   I tried out the new mop today. It worked just as I expected. Mrs H has always doubted that any kind of mop would be any good in the kitchen. I think she has memories of when we used to mop the floors at work. There you washed the floor with a very wet mop and then dried it. The mop we got, more or less does a dry mopping. Cannot believe I am talking about a mop here !!!!

   Still having problems with the bluetooth. It’s not so much the bluetooth itself, more a problem of getting things to work together. My Sony handheld just does not want to play. It uses a port that is is use by something else, and I think it could be the phone. I may need to re-install the software, although I can connect using a USB cable, so it is not really a problem, more an inconvenience.

   I’m going to have a day off during the week. A flexi day. This will be the first full flexi day, I have had off in nearly a year. I’ve been staying until about half 4 everyday, and it has made up enough time for a day off. Just need the weather to be reasonable. Fingers crossed.

   It took me nearly a hour, to do the shredding today. Admittedly, there were a large amount of old bank statements, but the thing that annoyed me most, were the pre-filled forms. You know the ones I mean. They come from banks and insurance companies, trying to get you to sign up. There must have been at least 20 of the damn things. Do these companies really think, that if they fill my name and address in for me, that I’ll buy their product ? (Note to self: Do the shredding weekly)

A good start ….

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   The borders in the living room came off a treat. It lImage019ooks like the ones in the dining room will be the same. We/I think that I will have to decorate the living room  first, before I start on the dining room. The hardest part, I suppose, will be moving the large furniture. That is the sideboard and drinks cabinet. Both are full and very heavy. Fun times ahead !!

   I’m not too keen on the new facebook setup. The status update seem to be all over the place. The best idea would be to invite a number of people to test out the new ideas, then implement them, with the option of going back to the old version.

   Still having a few problems with the updated phone. The email seems to keep disconnecting. I will try and look on the forums tomorrow. There may be a setting that needs to be altered. I have also been having a bit of trouble with the bluetooth. I keep getting asked for authorisation, although I may have sorted that one, just now. I cannot seem to send files to the PC at the moment. The phone says they have been sent, but I have no idea as to where they are ending up. Certainly not in the place they went to before.

Sorted .. I think

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   I updated my phone yesterday !!!!! Well at least that is what I intended to do !! It did not go quite to plan. I misread what I was updating. I suppose, misread is not quite correct. To be more precise, I did not read what I was updating. As a consequence, I did not create a back-up. So after the update, I was left with a phone that was more or less in factory state. All the personalisation’s gone !!! What a tw*t !!!! Image018I have now got it back to a reasonable state, but am still having problems with the email client.

   I’m starting the big decorating job tomorrow.   Living room and dining room. I think it is going to take a week or two to complete. I’m hoping, that the borders in this room will not be as hard to get off as the ones in the kitchen.

Hmmm…

/ Tony / 1 Comment

Here’s a thought. The Firefox browser starts to make a big dent in the browser narket. Microsoft wants everyone to use their latest version of Internet Explorer (IE8). Suddenly, a vunerability is discovered in IE6 and IE7 (MS knew about this in September) that is so dangerous that Governments are getting involved. Suddenly everyone is updating their browser to IE8, even though they never use it for the internet, because IE is integral to the operating system. Bingo!!!! IE8 becomes the most popular browser again (V3)

Now forgive my cynical nature, but what if that ‘vunerability’ or ‘flaw’ was buried in one of the service pack or updates …

…. and on and on.

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   Well, the afternoon didn’t get any better. The file that I was waiting for arrived too late to fully process, so that’s the first job in the morning. Then it’s back to the routine stuff. I need more challenges in this job. I think it is time to start putting feelers out. There are times, when I think that there is not enough work to justify my job.

   A new Asda card arrived today. It would appear, that a lot of people (me included) have had problems with the previous issue. It is now fixed! I’m tempted to start using it again. I only used for petrol at the Asda garage, as it gave me an extra penny of a litre. Is it worth the hassle of using two credit cards ?? Maybe not. It will also be a pain activating the card. They’ll try and sell me card insurance or a credit report.

   I downloaded a Facebook plugin for WLW (Windows Live Writer) yesterday. It is supposed to put an announcement in Facebook that I’ve made a blog posting. Typically, it did not work.

Dragging…..

/ Tony / Leave a comment

Work seems to be dragging on today. There is plenty to do, but I seem to be waiting about for other to do their bit. I had to get IT out to one of the printers this morning. It has been making an odd noise for a day or two, and catching the paper down one edge. It’s going to cost nearly £200.00 to fix it. Problem is that we print such a lot of documents, that it is bound to have some effect.

Another day done ….

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   The automatic routine worked. Well at least, I think it worked ! There were not as many notices produced as normal, but I think that could be down to the Christmas week effect. We shall have a better idea next week. There should be a full batch then. But all in all, I figure it was a success.

   The nights are starting to get a lot lighter now. I was able to drive home with just my side lights tonight, although maybe I should have gone to dipped when I came off the motorway. It’s not getting any warmer though.