EH - Essex > Hebrides...the next step of the adventure?

beanielou

Good news on the plasterer.

girlatplay

Your UW issues are very annoying!  I had issues with SPower in my old flat and have refused to use them since (over 14 years ago now).  Took 18 months to sort out 😡

It's hard to pick colours when decorating.  You have to pick something you're going to like for a long time.

All else is sounding good in your world.

EssexHebridean

Morning all - yes, we're greatly pleased to have a plan for moving the hallway project forwards a bit more! 

GAP - we too had issues with SPower years ago - we're on E7 and when they insisted on fitting us a new meter, they decided to assume that our rates were Rate 1 = night and rate 2 = day, when in fact it was the other way round. Took ages to convince them - they kept insisting that no, we had it wrong and were just using more power than we thought. Then tried telling us that in fact our storage heaters were set wrongly (not possible - they literally only have a feed when the E7 Cheap rate kicks in!) - we finally had to send them photos of the meter showing the reading displays at various times of day. A complete faff and nuisance, and made us vow that we'd never go back to them if we could possibly avoid it! 

Currently musing about booking to see Queen + Adam Lambert on the last night of their London O2 dates next week. It's a seat this time, high up but with a decent view as almost overlooks the stage and is the front row of its block - but is even more expensive than the eye watering standing ones for last week. It was seriously SO good though - and I have money stashed in both my "fun" and "airshow" accounts - I know it's not the latter but I definitely have more in there than I need at the moment so could easily use some for this. I'm struggling with the cost aspect though - it's that thing we've said before about it feeling quite difficult to spend money even when you HAVE that money in the right budget!  Ha - you know what, I've just done it. Reminded myself that the money IS in my budget, and that in the same situation if this was anyone else I'd be reminding them that this is precisely WHY they set aside money for the fun stuff! Ticket BOOKED! Eek!

Aside from that - banks checked and OK (credit card about to get a great big lump of gig ticket on it but what the heck!) and just remembered that I stashed my bank card in the back pocket of my leggings last night and really ought to rescue it from there before I put them through the wash - reminder set on my phone for when I get home tonight! MrEH mused about making rolls last night, then realised that we actually had enough to see us through until lunch today so he will put a loaf on tonight instead, which will then sort us for toast for breakfast tomorrow, plus sandwiches for lunch and toast at the weekend too, and will be cheaper on all counts than making a batch of rolls - the rolls will still need doing but he will just do them over the weekend, now ready for next week.

Our voluntary role really picks up on time demands from now - our IT-whizz guru finally got everything working so our orders went out yesterday - those are now pinging back to us - some just as completed paperwork, some as queries - MrEH is trying to pick up on some of the queries through the day but there will be lots to do tonight. There were a few bounce-backs too - annoying as theoretically our staff support team had checked them all for us - but most of those got sorted and re-sent last night - there were then two others which bounced back again from the new addresses so those need sorting. The next few weeks up to our event will now be absolutely MANIC with any spare moments either of us can muster being at least in some way dedicated to making sure everything happens in our area as needed. Very full on, very nervewracking and will also be more than a bit exhausting! 

Last night's chilli and rice was tasty - MrEH didn't even grumble about the brown rice but pronounced the whole meal delicious so I'm taking that as a win! Plan for tonight will be to throw the pasta bake into the microwave on combi I think - that way we should be able to combine heating it through thoroughly with getting a nice crispy top and in the shortest possible time - it will also let me evaluate the running costs of that as a cooking method - the combi microwave is something I don't use that often but it may well now be that it does come into its own both on a financial and a time-saving level, we'll see. Still don't have a clue what we'll be having for tea tomorrow night - I can give that some thought during the day. it might even be that we'll have our belated Wedding Anniversary celebratory indian takeaway - a bit of a family tradition now and we never even thought about it at the time as our anniversary was right between my Dad's death and his funeral - I didn't feel much like celebrating! 

milann

We had a conversation about the combi microwave oven a couple of nights ago when I was reheating a cauliflower cheese I’d made. Neither of us could remember how to work it so we need to get the instructions out 😏 I ended up warming it in micro and popping under the grill. I’d have previously thrown it in the oven.
ENJOY the concert…..it’s what the money is for. What a lovely memory to have 👍

RelievedSheff

We have a combi microwave on the van. No idea how it works though. It's all in Spanish   

We don't have a microwave in the house due to lack of kitchen space!!

girlatplay

Very similar here with SP.  I was on E7.  I called to give them my monthly readings and they put them in the wrong way around.  Cue 18 months of fighting, blah blah.

Yes, enjoy the concert!  No point in having the fun pots if you're not going to use them.

That's a lot of work for a voluntary role.  You must love what you do.

beanielou

DO IT   

peb

Go and enjoy Queen.  I've just paid to update my train ticket for London, I'm tired, will be going down after an early start at work (5.50 bus 😳) and I can afford I.  Also paid extra for a holiday booked in 2016for 2020 and happening now for a single room.  I'm tired, the school teacher friend I was sharing with will b too, it's a busy itinerary and, again, we can afford it.   It's totally mse as it's not throwing money away on unnecessary stuff, it's money available and /or budgeted and sometimes spending is needed.

Cheery_Daff

Another vote here for spending your spending money (not that you need a vote since you have sensibly done so already!) Always nice to see people enjoying their fun money 😊😊

EssexHebridean

You lot - so much wisdom and common sense, and of course I would say exactly the same sort of thing to you if the shoe were on the other foot! 😁 Zero regrets about booking it - absolutely cannot wait until Tuesday! Of course the train/tube strike might cause a few issues - I need to sit down and work through all the various options for doing the travel I think. Still, I’m not a million miles away - worst case scenario will be several buses I suspect! 

Well as forecast it is properly roasting hot here already today - we’ve been for a walk and it was already warm enough, although a nice little breeze keeping things reasonable. If that drops it’s going to be scorching, though. MrEH has already watered the garden and pots this morning, and they’re going to need doing again later on we reckon. As we speak I have the summer-weight duvet in the washing machine on a quick wash - hopefully it should dry during the day and can get switched into the bed later on - then at some point we’ll need to take the spring/autumn weight one to the laundrette - the summer one just about goes in our machine but the other is too large for that. I put it through on a 30 minute wash at 20° - and to my pleasant surprise it’s only cost about 5p to run - which is a lot less than I expected. It’s a wash I should consider running more often for lightly soiled stuff I reckon - of course if that was done overnight it would halve that cost, too. I can’t usually easily drill down to the actual running cost of the machine as the plug is inaccessible- it switches on and off via a separate switch in the wall so I can’t isolate it to use a monitor, and because it usually runs overnight I can’t just watch the useage figure. 

As I speak the machine has just bleeped at me to tell me it’s done so I’m off to sort getting the duvet hung out then head off to the gym before it gets even hotter, I think! Will no doubt pop back later! Remember - sunscreen and LOTS of water today people!