Taking my finger off the self-destruct button

Horace

Knickers!!

Excuse my French..I have had two calls from the garage about my car a) it failed its MOT b) they are servicing it now but it needs new brakes, new drums at the rear, new pads and the front suspension has gone (it is all these poxy potholed roads) - they can provide all parts except the one part that can only come from Toyota so I get to keep the courtesy car overnight..what joy. The car has to be MOTd again too. I figured I had some kind of brake problem after crisping them trying to pull out of a steep driveway before Easter but wasnt aware of the rest of it especially as the car is serviced regularly:( - I am now expecting a bill in region of £400:eek:.

Just had to laugh, I had a call from some twerp saying that if I pay him x amount of pounds he could get me onto the first page of Google, I told him that I was already there so he searched for one business (which isnt on the first page admittedly) and he appeared triumphant when he said that I couldn't be found so I suggested that he search for my other company which was only registered Monday and the site uploaded on Saturday - I have been on the first page of Google since then:j :rotfl: He then asked me how I had managed to do that so I suggested that he pay me £150 an hour and I would tell him:rotfl: His phone went down that quick I am surprised it didn't break:rotfl:

This self employment malarky can be quite good fun and the chat with the would be salesman was a welcome break because I have writer's block at the moment and can't seem to get past it today.

startagain_2

:j

I hate it when you disappear without trace for a while - I wonder what other calamaties and crises (sp) have befallen you or the menagerie.... thank heavens it is "just" work.

When I was married I have to admit to borrowing the odd pair of boxer shorts if my knicker selection didn't pass muster for any reason. I always used to wonder what if I get hit by a bus and ended up in A&E - something my dear old Nan used to warn me about.

I am glad Brian is back on form even though emasculated. He can reserve his energy for other tasks now!

Well, the horse riding isn't going to be a "goer". The lady lives on a farm about 12 miles away and my trusty little car will not stand up to regular journeys up and down the farm tracks without it becoming a liability, I just know it. Full of potholes and nasty bends. My car is 9 years old this year and I want it to last quite a bit more.
She had about 20 horses, which were very nice, but it was very solitary and part of the reason I go riding is for the social side of it. I may not be the biggest mixer in the world but it is nice to chat to people when you have something so strong in common.
There were other factors as well, that I wont go into, but suffice to say I politely refused and will keep going to the regular place, right on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors - fantastic.

A little update from my life (courtesy of nicking some room in your diary) - following a call to my Housing Manager about Mrs Fatty doing washing from 6am until finishing tumble drying at midnight we have A NEW PLAN OF ACTION :T

She has been asked if she would attend a meeting to discuss it and she has denied that she uses the washer dryer early or late (Here We Go Again) but, amazingly, the noise has stopped dead since the call.
If it starts again, or anything else, the HA are going to put Noise Recording Equipment in and see how much of an issue it is. Then, if it is seen as anti social they will take it up with the Fatty Family - if it is just normal "living" noise that I can hear in my flat then they are going to consider putting soundproofing flooring down...... hooray, hooray, hooray. I actually think that if they just lived with a little regard and respect for others, the noise isn't a real issue - it is just that they do what they want, when they want, where they want and blow everyone else.

So that is it really, new cooker is fantastic, but being larger than the old one has highlighted a problem in my kitchen. I have a double electric socket 6 ins above the ceramic hob.... :eek: which is a hazard, to say the least. My housing manager took one look and got on the phone to arrange for an electrician to come and move it - all arranged for the first week in June.

So, Wordsmith, less of this work lark and back to posting on here - we need to know what you are doing. You are leaving us all on tenterhooks.

Hugs

SA

Wordsmith

Hello all. Thanks for calling in.

SW, er, I don’t wear PJs … Miggy, smelling of mangoes is probably not so bad, but sticky from juice, urgh. Horace, I had to do a bit of detective work, but I think I have found your new web site – hope the business goes well.

SA, borrow diary space any time you want – it is always lovely to hear from you. Sorry the horses didn’t work out, but I’m glad you are enjoying your cooker (enjoying cookers is an alien experience for me and I don’t quite understand the concept, but if you are enjoying it, that’s good enough for me). It’s good, too, that you’ve got the council involved with the electrician and the family in the flat below (I feel uncomfortable calling them the Fatty Family as I wonder if people call me the Fatty Spinster, so I was going to call them the F Family, and then realised that this might be misconstrued [although possibly accurate]).

I should be working really, but I thought, nah, let’s do a diary update. It’s going to have to be a plus and unplus one …

Pluses

• I’ve had lots of work. The dreaded annual report didn’t turn up, which was great because I was behind with one of the books (and I didn’t actually want to do the annual report, but I shouldn’t say that). However, I finished the book yesterday evening at about five o’clock and the annual report turned up at about five past. So plus for the timing, unplus that I can’t yet have an evening off (although I did stop work at 8 o’clock last night because I was just so tired – and a glass of wine had me snoring on the sofa in no time).
• A small invoice has been paid. And I have other invoices to send out.
• I am still managing to pay off loan to friend – I missed a couple of weeks but have caught up.
• I have been eating properlyish. I did have cheese on toast one night because I couldn’t be ar@ed to do anything else, and I had cheese on toast last night because I really fancied it (but I did have half a punnet of cherry toms with it, and fruit after). I haven’t exactly been doing cordon bleu meals, but I have used saucepans and stirry things – so I regard that as proper cooking.
• I did the washing last night, so I have a complete outfit this morning.
• I did some washing up this morning. This is not something that most people feel is an achievement, but if you had seen my kitchen, well …
• I rearranged some furniture to make the house a bit more me-friendly.
• I was offered a scone for breakfast from one of the domestic goddesses. I resisted!

Unpluses

• The other domestic goddess plonked a piece of almond slice on my desk right in front of me. I couldn’t, just couldn’t resist.
• I am soooo tired.
• I am still owed two and a half grand by short fuse client. There will be changes in the business after next week, though, so I am hopeful that it won’t be long before I get it.
• I had to pay a vet’s bill of €130. I should of course put here that he is worth it, I should …
• We still haven’t exchanged on the house sale.
• I have to pay out £200 on insurances to do with the sale – I’ll explain about those another time.
• I forgot to transfer some money between accounts to pay a direct debit, so I shall be charged. I am so mad at myself over this as I had the money and it’s been months since I did something so stupid … well, months since I forgot to transfer money between accounts.
• I haven’t done my allotted words per week writing, although on the plus side I have squeezed in a bit of research.
• I have another little job that I should have done yesterday, that I have to try to fit in before I go to be a shop girl at midday. It would help if I was doing it now rather than writing in my diary, of course.
• There are a few work things that are frustrating me, but if I start writing about those I could be here for some time. We will overcome, though.

In a nutshell (have you got this far?), I am doing better than I was but not as well as I should be. That is the voice of determination, not the voice of defeatism.

Lula-Hula

Good morning Wordsmith,

I'm very pleased to hear that dear Brian is recovering well; a timely reminder to rejoice in being female.

Sympathy on the direct debit charges too. It is positively infuriating when you actually have plenty of cash to fund the debit, but have just neglected to make sure the cash is in the right place at the right time.

I recently wore some shorts style pyjamas & now realise just why boys wear boxer shorts - just how comfy & liberating undercrackers can be

startagain_2

Please excuse me for taking up a little space on your diary, again

My favourite diaries are running a little dry at the moment - the OP's are obviously busy working and sorting their lives out.
In the absence of somewhere to banter and pontificate I have decided that on 1st June (Weds) I shall start a new, different Debt Free Diary.

It will have all the old topics and characters.... MrT, the Fatty Family, Choc World et al but a more specific purpose (I hope) of encouraging people to fight back when life gives you a battering.

There is always a way of getting out of, and over, something and I think that I have tried a great many more than average over the years. I love to pass on experiences, good and bad, in the hope that it gives someone a glint of hope that they too can make things work out.

It also gives me a sounding board - somewhere to ask advice, seek opinions and general experiences from other people as I too strive to get my act together. It is not always easy, when you are single, to have a reasoned discussion - MrT is useless, all self,self,self!

Something about the 1st June seems right - 5 months into the year, beginning of the Summer, and hopefully a continuation of moving onwards and upwards, albeit at a snails pace.

Hopefully, the delightful Wordsmith will find the time to grace us with her presence now and again, along with savingwannabe and copperjar and the lurking dojoman. I hadn't realised how much I would miss all my virtual mates and supporters - lovely beanielou, Angel, LittleBoots - you know who you are...

So, I will stop acting like a cuckoo in Wordsmith's nest and start feathering my own from Wednesday onwards. It is going to take me 3 days to think of a title.....

Hugs to you all

SA

Wordsmith

First of June, yay! So glad you are starting a new diary, SA. Can I subscribe in advance? Darn, this means I have to try harder with my own as people won't be popping in to see you! Welcome back ... in advance again.

And the first of June is Brian's first birthday.

Lula-Hula

I can happily lurk on both & have done for some time now

xx

startagain_2

Wordsmith wrote: »

First of June, yay! So glad you are starting a new diary, SA. Can I subscribe in advance? Darn, this means I have to try harder with my own as people won't be popping in to see you! Welcome back ... in advance again.

And the first of June is Brian's first birthday.

Then it seems doubly right!

I am bracing myself for going horse riding this afternoon - it is pouring with rain but I know that it wlll do me good and blow some cobwebs away. I am trying to persuade MrT to come and feed the ducklings but he is a real fair weather dog - hates getting his feet wet - big girls blouse!

SA

Wordsmith

Don't lurk, Lula - join in! (I lurk on your diary, too. Shhh.)

Enjoy your riding SA.

I'm a shop girl today. There's a little lull at the moment, after the "mass rush" - when everyone comes out from church and up to us to buy their ciggies and papers and groceries and have a good gossip about the people they've just been praying for. It's so busy we have to have two shop girls for half an hour. Two! Ah, the highs of rural Ireland. Actually, it's very nice. On sunny days (so, not so many) the forecourt is littered with abandoned cars (the Irish have no notion of parking) and farmers congregating in little groups for a natter. It's quite heartwarming and something you don't see so much at the likes of MrT's et al. Our little Paddy has been in for his morning chat - he'll be in again before the day is out for another little chin wag.

It's not all rural idyll, though. Don't think it is. Take yesterday, two free-range oven-ready chickens were supposed to be delivered ... and they weren't! The stress it caused, you wouldn't believe.

I really do need to get out more.

And today I have to proofread that annual report. I must.

Horace

Hello Wordsmith and gang

I am hoping for some quiet new neighbours as the girl that lives next to me is moving out (I know that she is going because she fails to pay her rent - the landlord told me, she told me she was moving because she couldnt stand the racket from the bonking students that live above her). I shall miss her because she kept an eye out for my flat whenever I was away and likewise I would do the same for her.

I have been beavering away and need to type an invoice for work carried out in May - I need the money because I am getting a new logo for new business and I have started paying myself £100 a month to cover the shortfall in WTC.

Had one success, I contacted Virgin CC who had put me back to full interest after I got caught out by Easter - because I have never defaulted before my 0% interest was reinstated and I was allowed to transfer a balance too...so I have 0% until next May:j

Today, I washed up, I even washed up my greasy frying pans and Remoska pans - I am endeavouring to get the kitchen looking a bit tidier. Decided that I need a domestic goddess - any idea where I can get one from? Trouble is, I don't want to pay:D

Tomorrow, I shall go food shopping as Tesco have kindly sent me some coupons and my cupboard is bare as is the freezer, I also need loo rolls. I need to get back to cooking some proper food - today I am having meatballs which I shall prepare with veg and gravy.

Must change the website on my profile too so that Wordsmith can see if she found the right one. Looking forward to SA's diary too because I like to hear tales about Mrs Fatty.

Not much going on in the Horace household that is really interesting at the mo. Although I was advised that a man is being sought for me because some friends think I need one, I only want someone to change some lightbulbs for me and I am not bothered about anything else because I don't have the time or the inclination:rotfl:

BTW Primark sell ladies boxer shorts - you get 3 pairs for £5 - I wear them all the time.