Next steps; grip-relaxing bimbling, and avoiding the temptations

rtandon27

Glad to hear you are both feeling better!

Suffolk_lass

Sorry to start with a moan on this lovely sunny morning, actually it is going grey as I type, drafting in a note app on the hard disk of my computer.

My attempts to post this week have struggled along with our broadband service (now fully FTTP or fibre to the premises); supposedly an upgrade from the BT conglomerate of themselves, EE, Plusnet and Openreach, who all offer it to the cabinet down the road and do not dig holes to bury cables, they run twisted pair over telegraph poles to our rural properties, which limits the potential speed to a maximum of 80mbps.

The new wizzy-woo 300mbps (supposedly) service seems to drop at various points and my attempts to post suffered spontaneous blank screens as things chose to reload, mid-sentence and then the computer put a little black box in the corner of the screen telling me I was offline. Maximum tracked speed just over 200mbps is all very well but not what we contracted for and not accurate. 

Also, their customer services are in the “la la la, we’re not listening” school of AI bots. “Tell us your telephone number so we can port your landline to VOIP (voice over internet protocol); so no more available than the computer when the internet is down. We do not want your phone service, told you that when we signed the contract, yes, we can see the ticket in the account too but it is dated two years before the online account was created and was unconfirmed by the sales person who you no longer employ. Here are the text message exchanges with her and here is your confirmation of order email (no phone), together with the emails of the installation plan and confirmation emails, neither of which mention the 2m phone cable your own generic blurb says will be installed IF you ordered the number to be ported and provided. Kindly remove it and stop trying to make us pay £21 for something we don’t want. Eventually, they have cancelled it but after four emails exchanges with “Jade” (green, because she is evil) who I believe to be a bot, followed up through escalation with a mark-one human. It is just the energy it all takes that is so frustrating. So lovely, as long as their aut procedure doesn’t cut the service or send a bailiff (I do not put it past them).

We have had an old friend staying for a few days since Wednesday, and it really was lovely to have her here, catching up and remembering people. Her husband died just before she was fifty, and she has been on her own since then (18 years). She is very good at keeping up with old friends and updating me on who has got which ailment, whose husband died/is sick/ left/ or was asked to leave but after a couple of days I realised she has not lost her competitive streak from our sports team days, and so she almost assesses and reports on old team mates, their weight, personality foibles and eccentricities, in comparison to her own. She proudly told me she has lost weight, got back in the gym and was booking next week’s classes. She is tall and willowy. I am tall and not. I am still struggling with my knee, shoulder (caused by using crutches) and I have two medical procedures that I am not happy about in the next ten days. Both are monitoring procedures but both are invasive and unpleasant.  I have them because I am in the system and early detection/intervention is important. But they are there in the back of my mind, gnawing away at night in the what-if sleep analysis. Anyway, she left yesterday and the beds are stripped, all but two loads washed and things are resuming. 

I am left thinking we do little, she kept asking “what do you do on X days”, err, we bimble along, staying busy, keeping on top of chores, not going out on adventures as much as a single person who needs to see others. And Saturdays are no different to wet Wednesdays when neither of us work. I need to park it until next time.

Turning to other things. My Mum was in the red warning for weather area and her neighbour’s fence between them came down, on her side. He has removed it and laid the feather-edge boards horizontally to stop their dog from visiting. Another neighbour came over to secure her back gate and my sister sent her a message forbidding her to go outside after the wind ripped her bird table out of the paving slabs and snapped it, giving the squirrels easy pickings. Too late! She had already been out to collect up two seed feeders to stop the squirrels getting it all. We managed a video-call before her power interrupted again but I know she is OK. At 95, it doesn’t occur to her to just let the wretched squirrels get on with it.

Mr Sl bought the world’s most expensive chicken on Thursday, while he and friend were out and I was not with them. I was expecting either a SM £4 job or a butcher £10 but I got a budget-busting £18.pp from the (think Fortnum & Mason) butcher in the medieval village they visited. Only 23p over the £150 I wanted to stay under but I know I need a little more veg this week. I could use £12 off voucher for a click and collect that runs out today but I really don’t want to spend £60 (£48) just to get the carrots, potatoes, milk and cream I might need.

On the upside, my asthma has gone and his cough is under control after "Doctor Sl" (as my friend referred to me in a passive aggressive description) intervened to stop him coughing all night. I just know that is what she will share about me with others...

Right, that is quite enough moaning from me! (Sorry). Have a lovely Sunday. I'm going to read my book, finish the washing, and generally do as I please. Leftover chicken or Cumberland sausage whorls for our meal later and lots of pottering things to do. I might, or I might not.

KajiKita

Hmmmm … your friend doesn’t sound that friendly to me … You sound like you’re feeling a bit ‘pecked at’. 

There’s nothing wrong with the life you are leading or your fitness or willow-rating. These things are all relative and bound by circumstance and luck. Why are you comparing yourself to her? 

Keep keeping in with the internet provider. It’s bizarre that they keep trying to push a phone service on you - we not had one here for the last three providers and none of them have made anything of it 🤷‍♀️ If it gets too silly, start muttering about the ombudsman 😉

You sound fed up and a bit mis. I know you don’t know me well but I am sending you a supportive hug anyway x

KK

Suffolk_lass

I think my friend measures herself by comparison with others and remains competitive. I rise to it but I'm ok really. She is on her own, with nobody to talk to about these trivial things and her lovely husband's moderating influence has waned over the years. We've been friends for over 40 years but I think it's different when you stay rather than just visit. 3 days was long enough.

Today, our postponed oil delivery is due (fingers crossed we are at about half a tank or it won't fit). 

Poor DS & P have Norovirus. They have the week booked off but visited her Nan and there was nothing up to suggest any issues, then one of the nurses said "you might want to pop a mask on; there's quite a lot of Norovirus on the ward!" - you would think a notice on the door might not go amiss. So we won't see them this week and I was phoned for advice. I said just try sipping a room temperature glass of water, nothing else. No, don't worry about dehydration, I can bring rehydration sachets if it doesn't get better, and leave them on the doorstep. Wash your hands with soap and water after any body fluid or associated surface contact. I'm afraid with two procedures in medical locations this week I must not have any contact.

I must stop moaning!

Planned spend today -

• a replacement remote control device, a generic one from the Bay for under £10. 
• I might invest in some parking (no free parking in the nearby town since mid January) to collect my prescription and top up on veg, although I'm sure we can last another day or two, or three...

I must be grateful:

• that the garden is looking better than normal for this point in the year
• I have done at least half the preparation I need to sort out for the online study group tomorrow
• I've scheduled the meeting to meet the beginners course participants for our beekeeping association course (more in March)
• we might have all the beekeeping kit we need for the timebeing
• the sky is blue, the sun is shining and I might put the white towels in on a (solar) hot wash with no detergent to clean the machine and them
• I'm smiling already

rtandon27

Suffolk_lass said:

...I must stop moaning!

SL - you are definitely allowed to moan on your own diary! - Sometimes it's better to put 'pen to paper' so to speak and get it out of your system!

I've also got a dear friend of 40-ish years & we are very different people and have very different lifestyles and ways of approaching most situations.  The value added of course is that we've know each other since our pre-teen years and seen each other through thick and thin which counts for more than our constant frustration with each other!

Wishing you well for your two procedures & you are spot on to avoid any and all nasty bugs where possible!

Twolabsandacat

Hi SL, long time lurker on your old thread and I have just found you again!  I have been reading these boards for years but only recently signed up.  I Love hearing about the Bees.

I Hope  your upcoming procedures go well - take care

trix-a-belle

Your friend sounds like she has nothing better to do and is probably actually quite lonely, that is not the way to go about endearing yourself to others or making them wish to spend (any more) time with you, I have a friend who I can see going the same way, when we met before christmas my flabber was truly gasted at some of her comments.
You do plenty (bees, garden, lots for your village, family) and deserve to go at whatever pace suits you, if that's a lay in every morning or anything else then that is absolutely fine.

I hope DS & P feel better soon

Suffolk_lass

Thanks everyone, and welcome @Twolabsandacat, I will get back to some bee chat as the season resumes. Several people posted them flying over the weekend mostly cleansing flights; (pooing as they fly) but also pollen collecting, ready to give the pollen to the young bees whose exocrine glands produce enzymes to mix the protein into "bee bread" to feed to the newly hatched larvae that the Queens will be laying again, now the weather is warming.

Money is weird this month. Mr Sl's account unusually has more in it than "mine" - they are both joint, but his money goes in one, mine in the other. Normally I have to top his up the month after Christmas.

I resume seeing the Osteopath today. I do believe we have improvement in my dodgy shoulder. Good news, for money saving too. He is £60 per visit.

A range of irritating local things going on but we need to focus on the positives, so a dog sitter for a party we have been invited to is the first thing, and someone wants some more honey.

I must focus on my Bee Anatomy studies today, with the study group this evening I have lots more to prepare. Off to stop lolling in my nightie now!

Suffolk_lass

Beginning today by preparing bread to bake; one large loaf, a small one for the freezer, and four rolls. We will have chicken sandwiches today. I have to stick with a low fibre diet (started yesterday) until tomorrow and then fast and take the ghastly mix ahead of procedure on Friday. Enough of that (always in my head, sadly).

In the dead zone money wise, with nothing this week. Just the February week one milk bill (weekly DD) on Friday that will be added to February’s GC tracker spreadsheet.

I hope to get out in the garden today to spread some compost (remains of the spent mushroom that I bagged last year and was too late to apply) around asparagus and rhubarb, and I might transfer some strawberry runners. I really need some new strawberries for this year, so I might look for a dozen bare rooted to top up. My chosen supplier ceased trading last year and is a housing estate in preparation now

I also need to clear up in my greenhouse after a winter of ignoring it, and get things ready to start planting seeds. My gardener is due tomorrow and I want to get him on the deeper digging sort of things, starting to split and move herbaceous plants for the front bed. I also need to sort out some vegetation, posts and cross poles for a dead hedge I would like to add to the rear boundary to provide a refuge for wildlife.

Ooh, speaking of spending, I need to order the fittings for the barn doors. Not cheap but needed. We will have to empty and sort out the contents once things get a little warmer (dreading this).

I felt very much behind the curve on the study call last night and need to spend several hours catching up and reinforcing what I know in the next week.

Oop, bread ready to go in. Have a good day all

foxgloves

That sounds like the preparatory diet & vile concoctions I had to have about 18 months ago @Suffolk_lass ...& the 1st time it was all for nothing as I had a phone call at the 11th hour to tell me the scanner had broken down. Was not a happy camper!!
Hope it all goes ok for you.
F x