Travelling On

Karmacat

Karmacat said:

Today:
- the baby HW paid me 50p
- finished cleaning the shopping delivery from yesterday
- zoom lecture at 2 on sustainable fashion - not as good as the environmental stuff I've been watching, but not bad.
- 45 minutes weeding, and a full bucket to show.  Proper weeding too, not navvying 🌞 really pleased with that.
- did a couple of emails, not enough but better than nothing.

Didn't manage to do the rail ticket download, but I did get an email request for feedback from trainline, so I gave them both barrels 🙄  I'll wait till Sunday to try myself, in case they get in touch with me tomorrow.

It's the weekend 🌈

Karmacat

Morning!  Things have moved on apace:

- rail tickets understood, I think, no thanks to trainline.  I found a 7 year old blogpost that explained you don't see this bleeping "activate" button until the day you're travelling.  Why couldn't trainline say that? 

- found my debit card for the contactless part of the journey.  I'd prefer to use my credit card, as rifd fraudsters wouldn't then have access to my current account, but taking it just in case is a thing.

- Amazon purchases of atlas, road signs listing and hand gel, have all arrived, 2 separate deliveries.  Amazon guy so irked by my asking him to stand back from the door he stalked off without looking at me, and for the second delivery didn't even ring the bell.   Same guy did the same thing two weeks ago, I might give Amazon deliveries to the house a rest for a bit.  

- sofa is erected 🤣  sister came round on Sunday, and it took us 90 minutes of hard work to do that, so it doesn't have the cover on yet, and I did *nothing* else the rest of the day.  The video on the website was invaluable, even though there was a big booklet of diagrams that came with the thing.  


Today:
- might be nice to try for another bucket of weeds into the green bin, as its going tomorrow.  

- will keep on trying to download the pdfs for the journey tomorrow.  And then never, ever use trainline again, partly because of this faff, partly because of fees.

- will try to finish French accounts today.  All hinges on the garbage tax 🤣  and I've learned to fill in modern pdf forms, which is another new skill.

- dry sponge the sofa, as recommended, and try to put the cover on.  We'll see, I'd actually rather do the bucket of weeds thing.

- get ready for tomorrow's trip - such a big deal for me!  Food, masks, all of it.  

Karmacat

Morning!  I didn't do all the items on the list, but I *did* do the weeding (laurel hedge too high and thick), pdf train tickets downloaded (and used!), got ready for the trip, which included making sure I could step into the shower without running about all over the house. 

Trip to London!  Hurray!  We did it!  Blissful to get there and catch the last few weeks of the hieroglyphs exhibition.  A few problems:
- complete own goal with my debit card - I knew my bank had sent me a new card, but I didn't think it was my debit card.  It was 😲 and I took the old expired one 😲 and was so kerfuffled I got my sister to pay for the cup of tea (will repay her today) instead of just taking out my credit card, which I'd already used for the bus.
- had to change trains while I was still at my own station 🤣 and the result was a train so busy people were standing in the aisles 🙄  No one else in a mask.  I suspected it might be too busy to mean a first class ticket would help, and it didn't - I won't bother paying the extra again.
- didn't "activate" the rail tickets bought via trainline - didn't seem to matter, but it doesn't endear trainline to me.  No news from them about my purchase, I didn't really believe there would be.
- straight in to the exhibition - *we* didn't wear masks either - kind of shocked at myself, but my ears were hurting, I need to get those loops that save your ears.

Tasks:
- got to learn to use the new debit card, which has no numbers printed on it.  Chip and pin use necessary before contactless use.
- clean the clothes I wore.
- pay sister for cuppa tea.
- existing job carried over: the French accounts, accountant has sent a reminder.
- I've been reading about Jerusalem artichokes - I'm going to buy some next week, there are some nonsense roots that need to be cleared out of the way first.  Crocus also do horse radish tubers, so I'm tempted to combine the order - perennials appeal to me 🌞

themadvix

I was a bit surprised at the spend for a first class ticket on a suburban train service! (Totally worth it on a longer one, but you don't really benefit on a commuter line.) For future reference if you're on a Thameslink service (not Great Northern), you can sit in the first class carriage at the rear of the train (not the front) without a first class ticket - it is declassified (not a lot of people know that, so shhh!)

Jerusalem artichokes... hmm... I like the idea of them (perennials-wise) but they have unwanted side effects!

Karmacat

I wondered, but its a 50 mile journey, I didn't really count it as suburban, but it obviously isn't worth it, you're right 😁.  It was an experiment, my first day out since the pandemic was declared, and it only cost £10 extra, because of my railcard: since the exhibition was free (sister was gifted a membership, which gives a 2nd ticket automatically) it was worth finding out.  And now I've found out, I'm back to 2nd class 🤣

Thameslink declassified that they keep secret is a good tip, thanks for that!

Jerusalem artichokes - yeah, I'm in two minds, but a perennial veg has to be worth investigating!  

Other jobs good: paid for the tea, set up an automatic payment to my new cc through my current bank, started the money shuffle, washing machine is on.

Now to open up the French documents, omg, help, help, help .... 

themadvix

Karmacat said:

I wondered, but its a 50 mile journey, I didn't really count it as suburban, but it obviously isn't worth it, you're right 😁.  It was an experiment, my first day out since the pandemic was declared, and it only cost £10 extra, because of my railcard: since the exhibition was free (sister was gifted a membership, which gives a 2nd ticket automatically) it was worth finding out.  And now I've found out, I'm back to 2nd class 🤣

Sometimes these things do have to be tried, fair point!

Jerusalem artichokes - yeah, I'm in two minds, but a perennial veg has to be worth investigating!  

At least you live on your own! 🤣

Good luck with the French docs!

Karmacat

I managed with the French documents!  What I've got is ready to submit, but I've sent an email to my accountant (they write to me in English, so I feel justified in writing back in English, woo hoo) checking a few things: what is regularisation?  Why do they need me to list the garbage tax separately when its on the one and only tax form?  And can they help me with this VAT situation - they charge an awful lot of money for very little work, some actual work would be appreciated (I didn't say that 🤣).  I *did* say my figures are ready and waiting, and when they answer my questions, I can send everything by email straight away.  If they pass me over as badly as my management company last year, I'll just have to send the figures anyway (if they refuse my work in future, I'd contact a niece in law of mine for a good accountant, she's a French international lawyer based in England, I kid you not.  It's a strange life.

Karmacat

French accounts submitted!  Woo!  I'll pay the relevant invoice later today.  Next month, I'll bring back another 2000 euros, and that will do for my UK money shuffle for March too.

beanielou

Hurrah 

Karmacat

Morning!  I ignored domestic issues over the weekend, and concentrated on the garden and walking for my health - I've been pruning the rhodedendron, and the box hedge from next door, as well as my dead raspberry canes, and a few baby rhodies trying their luck - new growth starting soon!  Laurel needs a bit more, but the big thing that needs to be pruned, and I'll need my stepladders to do it, is the witchhazel.  It grows pretty much horizontally, and I've barely touched it since I've been here, with the result that it's overshadowing a lot of my growing space.  The tree is *so* beautiful at this time of year, but the branches over my head really need cutting back - it even affects drying time when I put clothes on the line!

Otherwise:
- one more French item, unrelated to the accounts.
- second part of this month's money shuffle
- I have a cash ISA expiring this month - need to let them know what to do with the money.
- phone Boots and ask them what to do with the particular expired meds I have.  Ahem, research online first, forgot that  
- get ready for shopping centre visit - another first this month!  Dumping expired meds that must be recycled by a pharmacist, recycling frozen veg bags at the Coop, buying an A5 week-to-view diary (a note on my phone isn't cutting it!), immediately after lunch wipe down the sofa (as recommended by Ikea) then air the room while I do something in the garden.  

That means tomorrow can be the visit to the shops (wildly excited at that!) and then setting up the sofa cover.  Sister is coming over on Friday, I'd like it to be done by then.