KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

silvasava

Bit of a bleugh day today. Started off with good intentions and hauled everything out of the airing cupboard onto the bed to sort it all out...... That's as far as I've got.:( DH had a guy round to look at his trike as the engine turns but won't fire despite DH and another friend checking everything possible so I ended up on t'internet for most of the afternoon searching for possible cures for him. Still no luck. Did manage to Kondo about 10 years of bank statements into sausage rolls to go on the fire. Hope I'll feel a bit more energetic tomorrow!

Karmacat

GreyQueen wrote: »

Karmakat, hope I didn't scare you witless, but I was concerned about what you described. Asbestos was used in all sorts of places that you'd not expect to find it and we're all reckoned to have been exposed to it.

I was scared witless for a bit, its true but thats down to my reactions, not your wonderings :kisses3:

Not quite sure what your 'popcorn' ceiling is - kind of Artex? That material used to contain asbestos and doesn't any more and you can't tell by looking, so we always test ours before doing anything with it.

I think it must be an American phrase, GQ. Mini-bobbles of Artex, yes When I have the asbestos roof of the brick shed removed, I'll have the ceiling tested, as you say.

GreyQueen wrote: »

Karmakat, hope I didn't scare you witless, but I was concerned about what you described. Asbestos was used in all sorts of places that you'd not expect to find it and we're all reckoned to have been exposed to it.

I was scared witless for a bit, its true but thats down to my reactions, not your wonderings :kisses3:

Not quite sure what your 'popcorn' ceiling is - kind of Artex? That material used to contain asbestos and doesn't any more and you can't tell by looking, so we always test ours before doing anything with it.

I think it must be an American phrase, GQ. Mini-bobbles of Artex, yes When I have the asbestos roof of the brick shed removed, I'll have the ceiling tested, as you say.
https://www.thisoldhouse.com/ideas/3-ways-to-deal-popcorn-ceiling

I'm a bit twitchy about the stuff because a relative of mine sickened and died a horrible death in his fifties due to asbestos exposure for a few weeks in his late teens.

Me too. My grandad died very young from mesothelioma.

greenbee wrote: »

Karmacat - it may well be burned-on stuff stuck to the rusty metal. (Bit like the state of my wok sometimes!). Have a fire in it, seeing as it isn't a hole, and you may find some of the rust comes off!

I never thought of that The tax form and the laurel gathering have to take precedence ... both need to be finished by the end of this week.

So I'm going to input the interest and dividend amounts (I put some fake ones in there so I could see what the end of the form looks like, need the real ones now) and try to get in touch with a technical advisor from HMRC, though its a bit late to be doing it. With other stuff thats been going on, it's predictable.

Onwards and upwards!

Save

Siebrie

Now that I've kondoed one of my bosses, I can work my way through the backlog at work, and the piles of paper are actually going down. The work does not spark very much joy, but the empty space certainly does

Karmacat

Siebrie wrote: »

The work does not spark very much joy, but the empty space certainly does

Yes! :T:T:T

Save

greenbee

HMRC are usually pretty helpful - although there may be a bit of a queue to get to them at this time of year. Interest and dividends are usually pretty straightforward (although I don't have enough of them to make a massive difference). HMRC have consistently improved online self-assessment with all the little boxes for doing your working out and links to explanations. It's just a pity I can't do my dad's tax return online - for some reason it has to be done on paper, which given my issues with numbers is much more stressful (maybe i'll get my brother to do it instead...).

I've been tracking down all the half-used scented candles that I've been given as gifts. Most are paraffin wax (which I don't buy myself) so I've been reluctant to use them. However, I've decided to use them up and get rid of them. And then any future gifts will be regifted/CSd without using. There's no point in keeping on repeating the point that I don't use this stuff - people obviously aren't paying attention to my home, lifestyle or conversation if they haven't worked this out. I think some people give you what they'd like rather than thinking about what you'd like.

PollyWollyDoodle

That last sentence is so right, Greenbee!

My home bears witness to that truth.

Karmacat

greenbee wrote: »

HMRC are usually pretty helpful - although there may be a bit of a queue to get to them at this time of year. Interest and dividends are usually pretty straightforward (although I don't have enough of them to make a massive difference). HMRC have consistently improved online self-assessment with all the little boxes for doing your working out and links to explanations.

I agree, once you can manage to talk them, the individual employees are really helpful. And yes, the amounts are tuppence ha'penny but my sticking point is the dratted Santander reinvestment scheme - I need to know, once and for all, in spite of the fact that all tax is already paid, how to list the shares bought for me under the share scheme I nominated. I think it's as simple as the nominal value they buy them at, but this time I'd really like to be sure of that

It's just a pity I can't do my dad's tax return online - for some reason it has to be done on paper, which given my issues with numbers is much more stressful (maybe i'll get my brother to do it instead...).

What a shame! I do like experimenting with the online form in how to input the figures and how not to double them up by accident

I've been tracking down all the half-used scented candles that I've been given as gifts. Most are paraffin wax (which I don't buy myself) so I've been reluctant to use them. However, I've decided to use them up and get rid of them. And then any future gifts will be regifted/CSd without using. There's no point in keeping on repeating the point that I don't use this stuff - people obviously aren't paying attention to my home, lifestyle or conversation if they haven't worked this out. I think some people give you what they'd like rather than thinking about what you'd like.

Hmph! That's true - for years, my mum got gifted a box of mixed nuts at Christmas by a particular cousin, when she'd made it clear for many years that she didn't eat nuts at all. Mum passed the boxes straight on to me, which was nice for me, but they weren't supposed to be for me! Ended up thinking less of the cousin, for other reasons too.

Fen1

Presents!!!!! The psychology of gift-aid giving is quite complicated, going way back to our ape ancestry with mutual grooming. It's all to do with reciprocity, bond-forming, currying favour, and obligation.
It's mutated in humans into passive-aggressive/control behaviour, particularly in MILs.

silvasava

I must be a sainted MiL as my DiL always gets what she wants - usually money towards her 'girly days' during the year.
I hate candles - when I was a child before fireproof nighties and central heating I saw a little girl with horrendous scarring all over her body from burns. I also went to dinner with some friends and one lady leaned across the table to pass something and her top caught on a candle - it went up so quickly it was frightening - luckily we all grabbed something and put the flames out and she wasn't harmed but we were all in shock. Her top had melted into a sticky black mess!
Lots of things to do on the !ist - TBH not sure where to start. Hmmm anywhere would be a start

Siebrie

I have hung up a reproduction water colour of Tower Bridge in the study! It was a goodbye gift from my au pair mum 20 years ago. It was on a wall in one of my former houses, but was just standing around on a shelf in this one.

DH has shown me a shelving unit he would like to buy for the kitchen to house the airfryer and coffeemaker. I told him I did not mind a shelving unit instead of the cubbyhole cabinet we have there (it's about 1x1m, 4 cubbyholes), but not the one he pointed out, which looked really cheap. He accepted my answer. I'm now thinking about what is actually in the cubbyholes, and whether we could store that elsewhere, and then put the thin desk/laptop table (modern, solid oak) there. Hmmm, minigoal for tonight, I think.