Where did that week go, then? Who knows, but what I DO know is that it’s been one of those weeks that’s been full of minor irritations. What I call a ‘fidget week.’
Of course, the irritations are all subjective and I could easily have glided (glid? glod?) through the week if I’d laughed in the face of irritation and guffawed at the threat of bubbling blood pressure. I don’t know if my blood pressure did actually bubble, but I took the precaution to ground myself regularly and do mini-meditations. Just in case.
Firstly, the 1000 litres of oil I ordered on 6th August failed to materialise in our oil tank during the time window given on the order confirmation, which was ‘on or before 19th August.’ Now, I wasn’t concerned that I’d run out of oil because I never let the tank dip below a third full. But I did object to the non-delivery of a fairly costly outlay during the time scale allotted. This is all my fault, of course, because I should NOT allow my own habits of precision, excellent time keeping and doing things when I say I will impinge on the uselessness of others regarding these matters. Just because I keep to deadlines doesn’t mean other people will. So it is my fault I got testy about it. And just because I would have responded to the email I sent asking where my oil was, doesn’t mean other people would do the same. Because they didn’t. My expectations were clearly way too high.
Anyway, after four days of quiet chuntering and grinding my teeth, the oil arrived Wednesday lunchtime but not without the delivery driver phoning me at work claiming he couldn’t find the address. I provided him with detailed directions from where he had stopped his tanker, all the while forcing a smile into my voice. When I got home, I was glad to see the delivery note posted through the letterbox and even more gladerer that my technological measuring device (a.k.a an old garden cane) showed the tank was full.
On the same day, my new laptop arrived! Well, it was supposed to arrive but it arrived at a ‘Collection Point’ over the other side of town, which was NOT what was agreed. So Andy performed a retrieval dash and then put on his ‘Technical Advisor’ hat to set it all up for me.
Now, if any of you have ever had a new laptop/iPad/phone/desk top computer/other electronic device that declares itself to be easy to set up, you will know what a right old hoo-ha and malarkey it is to get the thing happily synchronised before you can actually use it. There was much scurrying around looking for various passwords, and scrolling through reams of ‘Privacy Notice’ agreements (ha! They’re a laugh, aren’t they? Microsoft and Privacy are not natural bedfellows…), security shizzle and other irritating ‘stuff’. However, I am now laptop happy again. I have to say it’s a lovely little thing and I hadn’t realised quite how hard I had to bash the keys on the old laptop to make it type properly. Of course, now I’m being inundated with ‘helpful’ emails about all the new things I can do with the new laptop, a lot of which seem to be involving ‘gaming.’ Pah and Ptui to THAT is all I can say. All I want to do is write.
I have been annoyed by a couple of things at work. Least said about those the better. Least said about what? See - I’ve already forgotten!
Boots the Chemist wants me to set up ‘a second layer of security’ on my account. I have no choice in this matter. They sent an email saying it HAD to happen in the next two weeks. But I could do it NOW if I wanted to. This will involve receiving security numbers on my mobile phone which may or may not receive them before they expire. When will these people understand we live in the middle of fields and the phone signal might just as well come via string connecting two tins cans? Sheesh! I might just go into my local Boots store and perform the whole set up there. Then I can blame their phone signal if it doesn’t work properly. I mean, it WILL work properly, because these things, no matter how annoying, invariably do. But, you know, just for the sheer hell of the game, eh?
The boiler has received its annual service. That went smoothly. And that’s because my brother and nephew did it, and we share the same efficiency gene. My brother also gave me some touch up paint for my Aga which has accrued a couple of chips over the years, and the dog crate he used for his dog, Colin, when Colin was a puppy. You know, just in case we decide to become puppy people at some point in the not too distant future…
There have been good things happening this week. I don’t want you to think it’s all been hideously irritating in a ‘First World Problem’ kind of way. We’ve started harvesting plums for the freezer, and blackberries, too. And apples. I tracked down both May’s and Mollie’s latest al fresco nests and retrieved 6 eggs from May and 9 from Mollie. Mollie tried to keep one egg by gripping it between her knees as I hoiked her off the nest. She didn’t succeed. Both girls are now ‘non-broody’ and we have 15 eggs for a few breakfasts.
And here’s the latest pile of tomatoes harvested from the greenhouse this morning…
They are, quite frankly, the best tasting tomatoes I’ve eaten for years!
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KJ