I didn't go to work today. it was a combination of things: the garage didn't finish working on the Toy yesterday (they'd had to order a part); DH was already committed to collecting his mum from the airport and driving her home; and due to the weather, the rail service has been operating an emergency timetable, which I can't rely on. (I checked the rail company's website last night before I went to bed and again this morning - it was impossible to work out when our trains were running. We may or may not have had one train an hour.) I emailed my boss at 6.30 this morning to tell him I wasn't coming in and that I'd take the day as leave. For a while, I kicked myself that I didn't bring home the company laptop on Tuesday night when I knew the weather would be bad - I'd looked at it, commented about it to my assistant, and then packed it away as normal.
Eventually I gave up worrying about work, logged out of the company webmail and got down to some serious day-time TV watching. Oh, and knitting. I've almost finished a pair of Baudelaire socks in UK Alpaca's Alpaca Sock Yarn (colour: charcoal). They're my first toe-up socks. I hope to wear them to work tomorrow (who needs to block socks?) so will photograph them when done.
It snowed yesterday until mid-afternoon. My poor MIL has suffered a temperature shock, flying in from the Gulf to sub-zero temperatures. Yesterday, she was sunbathing; today, she's sitting by the fire, wearing her warmest clothes to keep warm.
We've scattered dishwasher salt on the front step in an attempt to stop it icing up. Amazingly, it worked, dissolving the layer of snow that covered the step and the snow that landed after we salted. It's also killing off the resident moss and weeds that have colonized the mortar between the bricks that make up the step.
The Toy was ready for collection at 3pm today. The cause of his knocking noise? One of the rear tyre has worn badly on the inside and distorted. I was lucky it didn't blow out. The mechanics don't know why this has happened. Whatever caused it has happened since the start of August, when he was last serviced and they rotated the tyres. I asked about wheel alignment and camber (tilt) and they say that it isn't possible for the rear wheels to go off "true". The joints aren't built that way.
Sadly, with the Toy fixed, I have no excuses. It's back to work for me tomorrow.
- Pam
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Snow Day
If you look at the news today, you'll see that Britain is in the grip of yet another snowfall. Work-wise, it doesn't affect me. I'd booked today off in order to get Toy fixed ASAP; since he has a problem with his wheels, I didn't want to drive one mile further than was necessary. On Monday, sacrificing a day off to get him fixed seemed the best option - today was the first day they could fit him in, they couldn't give me a loan car and whilst DH is currently driving his sister's car, that was also booked in for a service today so he couldn't drive me to work. Bad weather didn't rear its ugly head until yesterday, when the weather warnings came through. It snowed overnight; this morning, we dropped both cars off and walked back through virgin snow.
The first time I drove in snow, it was the week before Christmas 1999. I was sitting in the Metro (Toy's predecessor) at a set of traffic lights in Selsdon, south of London, when I realised the stuff making the strange wet blotches on the windscreen wasn't rain. It was snow! Further along, the Epsom Downs wore a nice snowy blanket. I remember feeling excited, like I'd finally made it as a driver, "Hello, world! I've driven in Snow!!!!".
When I got to work that morning, I quizzed everyone about how to drive in snow. I got fairly general advice: stay in second gear, brake slowly, double or treble the distance between the car and the one ahead, etc.
The next time I recall driving in snow was January 2003, when it started falling as I drove into the office car park on the morning I was due to fly to Australia for my sister's wedding (the flight was at 10pm). I sat in the office that day watching it fall, watching it settle, until 2pm when I turned to my then boss (PVC) and said I was leaving - I had a plane to catch and I couldn't risk staying any longer. PVC is Canadian. He responded with, "You're Australian. What do you know about driving in snow?" and proceeded to give me a driving lecture. It's thanks to him that I carry a bag of kitty litter in the boot during winter (for grip on the ice).
Fast forward to December 2009 and our current bout of snowy weather. You know about my journey home on the Monday before Christmas, but I haven't mentioned Friday 18th December. I was at Site. Thursday, it was snowing as I drove to the hotel - a dry snow, almost hail, that blew over the road like a dust storm, complete with swirls and eddies.
Thursday night was the Site Christmas Party at a big hotel so I stayed at the venue; Friday lunchtime was the Reading Finance Christmas Wake (we'd organised it and paid for it ourselves, without company support). The plan was that I'd claim driving time for once, leave the hotel before 8am, drive home as quickly as possible, collect DH who'd drop me at the station then get the express train into Reading for our party at 1pm. No drinking and driving for me.
Friday morning's news was full of talk about the overnight snowfalls and an impending "Big One" that was due to start "any minute now" and would be focused over Lincolnshire. Since there were clear skies when I left Scunthorpe, I thought it was safe to take my usual route instead of heading out to the M1 and adding an hour to the journey (usual route is country roads to Lincoln, go round the Lincoln bypass, then join the A1 near Newark. That'd take me to the M25 and home).
I was about a third of the way down the A1 when the Big One hit. Gradually, over the next 20 miles, we slowed down into a single file convoy of traffic, travelling at approximately 40 miles an hour. The snowfall got heavier and settled on the road. Every now and again, an idiot would wiz down the fast lane at 60 mph; that stopped after one of them spun out of control and ended up sideways with their nose across the central reservation.
We plodded on. The snow got heavier. The vehicles got slower. The road surface disappeared; even the tyre marks were filling up. At 10.30am I pulled into Colsterworth Services and considered my options. By this point, the A1 was practically stationary. There was no way I'd get to Reading for 1pm. It was time to admit defeat. I phoned the office and told them I wasn't going to make it. I phoned DH and told him where I was, then bought a coffee and sat in the Little Chef for an hour, reading, until the snow plough/gritter went through and the traffic started moving.
I gritted my teeth, got back in the Toy and set off again. The reason we'd ground to a stop became clear - there had been an accident closing the fast lane and the emergency vehicles were still clearing up when I drove past. The snowstorm eased. The road surface cleared. Driving got faster.
It was 3pm when I got home that day. I'd had a long scary drive. Sometimes, I'd been really frightened but mainly about getting stuck. I wasn't scared (most of the time) about crashing, only when those idiots went flying past at 60. I have never been more grateful to see the road works on the M25 near Watford.
- Pam
The first time I drove in snow, it was the week before Christmas 1999. I was sitting in the Metro (Toy's predecessor) at a set of traffic lights in Selsdon, south of London, when I realised the stuff making the strange wet blotches on the windscreen wasn't rain. It was snow! Further along, the Epsom Downs wore a nice snowy blanket. I remember feeling excited, like I'd finally made it as a driver, "Hello, world! I've driven in Snow!!!!".
When I got to work that morning, I quizzed everyone about how to drive in snow. I got fairly general advice: stay in second gear, brake slowly, double or treble the distance between the car and the one ahead, etc.
The next time I recall driving in snow was January 2003, when it started falling as I drove into the office car park on the morning I was due to fly to Australia for my sister's wedding (the flight was at 10pm). I sat in the office that day watching it fall, watching it settle, until 2pm when I turned to my then boss (PVC) and said I was leaving - I had a plane to catch and I couldn't risk staying any longer. PVC is Canadian. He responded with, "You're Australian. What do you know about driving in snow?" and proceeded to give me a driving lecture. It's thanks to him that I carry a bag of kitty litter in the boot during winter (for grip on the ice).
Fast forward to December 2009 and our current bout of snowy weather. You know about my journey home on the Monday before Christmas, but I haven't mentioned Friday 18th December. I was at Site. Thursday, it was snowing as I drove to the hotel - a dry snow, almost hail, that blew over the road like a dust storm, complete with swirls and eddies.
Thursday night was the Site Christmas Party at a big hotel so I stayed at the venue; Friday lunchtime was the Reading Finance Christmas Wake (we'd organised it and paid for it ourselves, without company support). The plan was that I'd claim driving time for once, leave the hotel before 8am, drive home as quickly as possible, collect DH who'd drop me at the station then get the express train into Reading for our party at 1pm. No drinking and driving for me.
Friday morning's news was full of talk about the overnight snowfalls and an impending "Big One" that was due to start "any minute now" and would be focused over Lincolnshire. Since there were clear skies when I left Scunthorpe, I thought it was safe to take my usual route instead of heading out to the M1 and adding an hour to the journey (usual route is country roads to Lincoln, go round the Lincoln bypass, then join the A1 near Newark. That'd take me to the M25 and home).
I was about a third of the way down the A1 when the Big One hit. Gradually, over the next 20 miles, we slowed down into a single file convoy of traffic, travelling at approximately 40 miles an hour. The snowfall got heavier and settled on the road. Every now and again, an idiot would wiz down the fast lane at 60 mph; that stopped after one of them spun out of control and ended up sideways with their nose across the central reservation.
We plodded on. The snow got heavier. The vehicles got slower. The road surface disappeared; even the tyre marks were filling up. At 10.30am I pulled into Colsterworth Services and considered my options. By this point, the A1 was practically stationary. There was no way I'd get to Reading for 1pm. It was time to admit defeat. I phoned the office and told them I wasn't going to make it. I phoned DH and told him where I was, then bought a coffee and sat in the Little Chef for an hour, reading, until the snow plough/gritter went through and the traffic started moving.
I gritted my teeth, got back in the Toy and set off again. The reason we'd ground to a stop became clear - there had been an accident closing the fast lane and the emergency vehicles were still clearing up when I drove past. The snowstorm eased. The road surface cleared. Driving got faster.
It was 3pm when I got home that day. I'd had a long scary drive. Sometimes, I'd been really frightened but mainly about getting stuck. I wasn't scared (most of the time) about crashing, only when those idiots went flying past at 60. I have never been more grateful to see the road works on the M25 near Watford.
- Pam
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Dear Twitter Users
Who are you and why are you "following" me? Since I have never posted a tweet and never will, you must be very bored.
The only reason I joined was to read Mark Kermode's Oscar predictions last year. Kermode ran out of time during his regular, Friday afternoon radio slot so promised to list them on Twitter. Which he did about 5 minutes after the Drive program had kicked him off the airwaves.
I really don't see the point of Twitter, nor do I see how it will ever be able to turn a profit. Facebook sells advertising space. Google sells advertising space. Yahoo sells advertising space. That's how they make a profit. Twitter doesn't sell anything and it relies on the ability of users to send/receive text messages from the most basic of mobile phones, which won't support advertising.
Is Twitter the next big Dot.Bomb????
- Pam (bemused)
The only reason I joined was to read Mark Kermode's Oscar predictions last year. Kermode ran out of time during his regular, Friday afternoon radio slot so promised to list them on Twitter. Which he did about 5 minutes after the Drive program had kicked him off the airwaves.
I really don't see the point of Twitter, nor do I see how it will ever be able to turn a profit. Facebook sells advertising space. Google sells advertising space. Yahoo sells advertising space. That's how they make a profit. Twitter doesn't sell anything and it relies on the ability of users to send/receive text messages from the most basic of mobile phones, which won't support advertising.
Is Twitter the next big Dot.Bomb????
- Pam (bemused)
Friday, 1 January 2010
Frugal Friday: And so it begins
What did you do for New Year's? We spent New Year's Eve at friends, watching fire works, playing party games and playing with their cats. It was fun, silly and stress free. And cold (I woke up this morning to a hard frost).
To me, new years are like other new beginnings: a time of optimism, promise and hope; a time of renewal. I'm the kid who always looked forward to the start of the school year, wondering what I'd achieve and who I would become during the year. And that is the way I felt when I woke up this morning. Since I've already discussed New Year's Resolutions, I'm not going to put up a long list of resolutions or goals for 2010. I've decided to keep anything more detailed private for now. However, check back occasionally and you might find a monthly Sit.Rep. making an appearance.
In the meantime, we have "a situation". During the last week, the Toy has developed a knocking noise and vibration when traveling at high speeds (60+ mph). His steering feels sloppy. If it was another car, I'd say a front wheel bearing has gone but I'm not sure the Toy has them - he doesn't have a conventional front axle. He will be due for his 200,000+ mile service in a week or so anyway, so a visit to the car-doctor was already on the cards. My priority numero-uno is to get him fixed, but I have to face the possibility that sometime in the next year or so fixing him will become uneconomic. DH and I've decided that £2k a year in repairs is the limit.
Now is the time to do the planning for when Toy becomes uneconomic to repair. Over the next few months, DH and I'll do the work to define what we want in a new car and what make/model we'll target. (My main requirements are four/five doors, reliable, a good radio, a cup holder and a fuel allergy. Oh, and I'd like air-conditioning, but not if it costs more.) And then we'll have to save for it. I don't want a car payment but if I have to have one then I want one at 0% interest, which means a large deposit.
That was one lesson I learned from buying the Toy, nine years ago: loans are commitments where you sell your future cash-flow for something you want now. It doesn't matter if it is a car loan or a shopping spree on your credit card, you are committing your future salary to buy something you want now. And you limit your future spending choices because you won't have as much money available to spend from next month's pay packet as you had from today's. What cripples many people is not their ability/inability to borrow or the amount of money they do/don't earn, it is their ability to service their loans whilst still having a life. I don't want to be caught in the dreadful situation where you have to choose whether to buy food or to fund your transport to work*.
So, my first Frugal Friday Resolution is to end 2010 with less debt than I have now and a healthy "Toy Replacement Fund".
- Pam
* In my particular situation, driving is the cheapest option. Throw in a car payment of the size I had with the Toy (£183/month), and it still comes out as the cheapest option.
To me, new years are like other new beginnings: a time of optimism, promise and hope; a time of renewal. I'm the kid who always looked forward to the start of the school year, wondering what I'd achieve and who I would become during the year. And that is the way I felt when I woke up this morning. Since I've already discussed New Year's Resolutions, I'm not going to put up a long list of resolutions or goals for 2010. I've decided to keep anything more detailed private for now. However, check back occasionally and you might find a monthly Sit.Rep. making an appearance.
In the meantime, we have "a situation". During the last week, the Toy has developed a knocking noise and vibration when traveling at high speeds (60+ mph). His steering feels sloppy. If it was another car, I'd say a front wheel bearing has gone but I'm not sure the Toy has them - he doesn't have a conventional front axle. He will be due for his 200,000+ mile service in a week or so anyway, so a visit to the car-doctor was already on the cards. My priority numero-uno is to get him fixed, but I have to face the possibility that sometime in the next year or so fixing him will become uneconomic. DH and I've decided that £2k a year in repairs is the limit.
Now is the time to do the planning for when Toy becomes uneconomic to repair. Over the next few months, DH and I'll do the work to define what we want in a new car and what make/model we'll target. (My main requirements are four/five doors, reliable, a good radio, a cup holder and a fuel allergy. Oh, and I'd like air-conditioning, but not if it costs more.) And then we'll have to save for it. I don't want a car payment but if I have to have one then I want one at 0% interest, which means a large deposit.
That was one lesson I learned from buying the Toy, nine years ago: loans are commitments where you sell your future cash-flow for something you want now. It doesn't matter if it is a car loan or a shopping spree on your credit card, you are committing your future salary to buy something you want now. And you limit your future spending choices because you won't have as much money available to spend from next month's pay packet as you had from today's. What cripples many people is not their ability/inability to borrow or the amount of money they do/don't earn, it is their ability to service their loans whilst still having a life. I don't want to be caught in the dreadful situation where you have to choose whether to buy food or to fund your transport to work*.
So, my first Frugal Friday Resolution is to end 2010 with less debt than I have now and a healthy "Toy Replacement Fund".
- Pam
* In my particular situation, driving is the cheapest option. Throw in a car payment of the size I had with the Toy (£183/month), and it still comes out as the cheapest option.
Thursday, 31 December 2009
To sum up
How was your Christmas? Ours was quiet. There were no shocks, no bad news, and no drama. We spent the actual day watching DVDs and then playing games with a friend who came over in the evening. We've visited friends and played "elf delivery service" to their children.
I've spent the last few days feeling grateful for the good things in my life. 2009 has been a hard year for many people. We haven't come through it unscathed, but I don't care. A bad year doesn't define who we are. So what if I'm still not pregnant, or that DH is unemployed? I can still count my blessings. I have a wonderful husband, a loving family and good friends who are almost family. I have a job that pays the bills, a car that works, a roof over my head, hundreds of books to read and a stash of yarn. What more could a girl want?
OK, ok, there are a few things (including the 2 I've already mentioned), but they aren't things that necessarily cost money. And most are within my ability to deliver to myself. They are things that cost time and effort. I'd still like to be able to converse with the Client's staff in their own language (French). I'd like my top C-sharp back ([cough] even B-flat would be nice [cough]). And I'd like to be fit enough to run a half marathon. Maybe that should be my list of New Year's Resolutions?
In an average year, at about this time, I'd have a list of New Year's Resolutions as long as your arm. I think in my best (worst?) year I had a list of 35 Resolutions. This year, I really only have one: to act thoughtfully throughout 2010. That way, if I'm going to be a b*tch about something, then at least I'll have worked out the consequences first. :o)
I've spent the last few days feeling grateful for the good things in my life. 2009 has been a hard year for many people. We haven't come through it unscathed, but I don't care. A bad year doesn't define who we are. So what if I'm still not pregnant, or that DH is unemployed? I can still count my blessings. I have a wonderful husband, a loving family and good friends who are almost family. I have a job that pays the bills, a car that works, a roof over my head, hundreds of books to read and a stash of yarn. What more could a girl want?
OK, ok, there are a few things (including the 2 I've already mentioned), but they aren't things that necessarily cost money. And most are within my ability to deliver to myself. They are things that cost time and effort. I'd still like to be able to converse with the Client's staff in their own language (French). I'd like my top C-sharp back ([cough] even B-flat would be nice [cough]). And I'd like to be fit enough to run a half marathon. Maybe that should be my list of New Year's Resolutions?
In an average year, at about this time, I'd have a list of New Year's Resolutions as long as your arm. I think in my best (worst?) year I had a list of 35 Resolutions. This year, I really only have one: to act thoughtfully throughout 2010. That way, if I'm going to be a b*tch about something, then at least I'll have worked out the consequences first. :o)
Seriously, though, "acting thoughtfully" encompasses working towards my goals, being kind to people and being conscientious about my commitments. If I do that, then I will be a better person than I am now, and I will be happier with my life (not that I'm unhappy now, but you know what I mean, don't you?). And I will achieve the things I want to achieve. May the same be true for you.
Happy New Year my friends. During the Havdalah ceremony to close the Sabbath each week, Jews wish each other "Shavu'a Tov: 'a good week, a week of peace, may gladness reign and joy increase.'" For 2010, I would like to wish us all A Good Year. A year of peace. May gladness reign in your hearts and joy in your lives.
- Pam
Monday, 21 December 2009
An open letter
To Wokingham District Council AND Reading Borough Council,
Why the F*** didn't you grit the roads?????
Why did it take me two and a half hours to go the 600 metres from the office car park to the bypass? It didn't need to. It wouldn't have if you had done the sensible thing and gritted the roads. It's not as if you didn't have sufficient time before rush hour - it has been snowing steadily since 11am this morning. And you were told this morning that snow would fall.
You didn't even grit the Bypass! Or the King's Road. These are the major roads in your area. Thousands of people travel on them every hour. I'm just grateful that the motorways are maintained by the Highways Agency, so that when I finally got to the M4, I could actually drive at more than 10 miles an hour.
Honestly, you are both a disgrace. The local ambulance service has publicly chastised Reading for not gritting the pavements in the Town Centre; they have had a huge number of call outs due to slips and falls on the ice.
THIS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
- Pam
Why the F*** didn't you grit the roads?????
Why did it take me two and a half hours to go the 600 metres from the office car park to the bypass? It didn't need to. It wouldn't have if you had done the sensible thing and gritted the roads. It's not as if you didn't have sufficient time before rush hour - it has been snowing steadily since 11am this morning. And you were told this morning that snow would fall.
You didn't even grit the Bypass! Or the King's Road. These are the major roads in your area. Thousands of people travel on them every hour. I'm just grateful that the motorways are maintained by the Highways Agency, so that when I finally got to the M4, I could actually drive at more than 10 miles an hour.
Honestly, you are both a disgrace. The local ambulance service has publicly chastised Reading for not gritting the pavements in the Town Centre; they have had a huge number of call outs due to slips and falls on the ice.
THIS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
- Pam
Friday, 18 December 2009
Geek humour
I heard this on Lime & Violet and thought it was just too good not to share:-
Enjoy!
- Pam
Enjoy!
- Pam
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Something turned up yesterday
DH was reading my blog last night while I was getting ready for choir practice. "Click on the link," I said, "so you'll know what the book looks like".
So he did. "Oh! That book."
"What do you mean: 'That book'?" I demanded.
"Nothing," innocent voice. "It looks familiar, that's all."
I go upstairs to brush my teeth. Three minutes later, I return to the lounge and a certain book is lying innocently on the couch. Guess who had "tidied" it away?
- Pam
So he did. "Oh! That book."
"What do you mean: 'That book'?" I demanded.
"Nothing," innocent voice. "It looks familiar, that's all."
I go upstairs to brush my teeth. Three minutes later, I return to the lounge and a certain book is lying innocently on the couch. Guess who had "tidied" it away?
- Pam
Sunday, 6 December 2009
Missing: One Book
Where the hell is it? I've been through the house THREE times and I can't find my copy of Knitting Classic Style by Veronik Avery. I haven't a clue where it's gone. Nor can I find my working copy (a photocopy) of the pattern I want to make from it. I've looked everywhere!
I'm sure there is a black hole in this house where books I want to read go to hide. Considering that this is a house full of books, at any given moment tracking down the one I want isn't easy, but I've checked all the usual places. It isn't in the "library" (our book-shelf lined third bedroom); it isn't on the coffee table; it isn't under the coffee table; it hasn't hidden itself in one of the three stacks of knitting magazines; it isn't hiding on or behind the stash (I've checked there too, just in case that's where the working copy is hiding); it isn't on the piano pretending to be music, or on the kitchen bookshelf pretending to be a recipe book. It isn't ANYWHERE!
I need this book. More to the point, I need a copy of the Beret Basque pattern if I am to make my MIL another one for Christmas.
[sigh]
How do you tempt a book out from it's hiding place when it is clear it doesn't want to be found?
- Pam (exasperated)
I'm sure there is a black hole in this house where books I want to read go to hide. Considering that this is a house full of books, at any given moment tracking down the one I want isn't easy, but I've checked all the usual places. It isn't in the "library" (our book-shelf lined third bedroom); it isn't on the coffee table; it isn't under the coffee table; it hasn't hidden itself in one of the three stacks of knitting magazines; it isn't hiding on or behind the stash (I've checked there too, just in case that's where the working copy is hiding); it isn't on the piano pretending to be music, or on the kitchen bookshelf pretending to be a recipe book. It isn't ANYWHERE!
I need this book. More to the point, I need a copy of the Beret Basque pattern if I am to make my MIL another one for Christmas.
[sigh]
How do you tempt a book out from it's hiding place when it is clear it doesn't want to be found?
- Pam (exasperated)
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
It's my "birthday" and I'll blog if I want to
Hello, my name is Toy and I'm borrowing PipneyJane's blog. She's one of my humans. We've been together for 9 years now: me, her and the Boy (her DH). He's a nice boy - drives me quite gently, not one of those boy-racer types.
PipneyJane looks after me very well. Every 10,000 miles, she takes me to the doctors' for my checkup and servicing. When I've had bumps and bruises, she gets me repaired as quickly as possible. She's very loyal, too. We've travelled thousands of miles together and she never looks at another car. Not that way. No lusting after Porches or Fords (spit!). I'm hers and that's the way it's meant to be.
When you're a car, you don't really have birthdays - instead, you have milestones. I know PipneyJane has shown you a few of mine. Well, I've just passed a big milestone and I'd like to share it with you myself. So here you are:
200,000 miles as of 12.45am on Saturday 28th November 2009.
PipneyJane looks after me very well. Every 10,000 miles, she takes me to the doctors' for my checkup and servicing. When I've had bumps and bruises, she gets me repaired as quickly as possible. She's very loyal, too. We've travelled thousands of miles together and she never looks at another car. Not that way. No lusting after Porches or Fords (spit!). I'm hers and that's the way it's meant to be.
When you're a car, you don't really have birthdays - instead, you have milestones. I know PipneyJane has shown you a few of mine. Well, I've just passed a big milestone and I'd like to share it with you myself. So here you are:
200,000 miles as of 12.45am on Saturday 28th November 2009.
Saturday, 28 November 2009
Playing engineer
I've told you, haven't I, that I work for a firm of engineers? A couple of months ago, I finally did the health and safety course that would allow me to walk the building site at Site. I've walked the site a couple of times since then. It's interesting seeing where all the money has gone and identifying those components for which I actually remember the vendor invoices. (Not many - we've had almost 6000 invoices since we started.)
Last time, I went out with two of the cost engineers - one is an accountant by training, the other a quantity surveyor. We wandered around and pretended we knew what we were looking at, playing engineer.
- Pam
Last time, I went out with two of the cost engineers - one is an accountant by training, the other a quantity surveyor. We wandered around and pretended we knew what we were looking at, playing engineer.
- Pam
Monday, 16 November 2009
Giving thanks where thanks is due
A big thank you to:
- Pam (who had to spend the morning at her regular office and didn't escape until 3pm)
Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo (Hello Jason Isaacs!)for keeping me sane on my 230+mile drive to Site this evening. Your podcasting efforts are much appreciated. It was a very long and boring trip, which would have been much worse without you to keep me company. How long and boring? Well, suffice to say that I got through THREE episodes of Lime & Violet after I turned onto the M1 and they run to almost an hour and a half.
Lime & Violet
Never Not Knitting
- Pam (who had to spend the morning at her regular office and didn't escape until 3pm)
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Touching base
For the first time in what feels like weeks, I've got the house to myself. DH has gone up to Town* to meet up with a friend. I had been looking forward to my alone time immensely, but when it finally arrived, I didn't know what to do with myself. There is nothing to watch on the telly. I don't want to watch the downloads on the laptop without DH in case there is something he'd like to see. And it's taken me two hours to drag myself out of my inertia and start blogging.
So, what has been happening? Last week can be summarised as two concerts, an NFL match, two deaths and a funeral. It was a busy, draining and highly emotional week. I'll write about the football later - there are photos to post, when I can find the camera - and much fun to describe, but I did want to say "Amy, got your email; I'm glad the program I posted to you arrived so quickly".
The concerts were Spandau Ballet at the NEC in Birmingham, and Fleetwood Mac at Wembley Arena. Again, I'll talk about them later. It is difficult to create a coherent post that ties together, when I really want to talk about the other things that happened last week.
I got a text message on Monday morning: P's mum finally passed away on Sunday after a years of battling with osteoporosis and, more recently, "chronic" breast cancer. She was 89 and, I think, had lived a long happy life, although the last few years had been filled with pain and disability from the osteoporosis. Nancy broke her hip last December and never quite recovered. P nursed her at home for the last few months, providing round-the-clock care. She did her mum proud.
The other news on Monday had me in tears sitting at my desk at lunchtime. Thank God I face the window when I look at my computer screen. Andy, the husband of one my net-friends, Dianakalt, fitted and died in hospital on Sunday afternoon. (Some of you may remember Diana from the Motley Fool.) They'd only been married a couple years. He was 40 and had recently been diagnosed with a brain tumour. No one had been expecting this; not yet. His diagnosis was recent - they were evaluating him for treatment - but he was well enough to be moved from a high-dependency unit to a physical rehabilitation unit to aid his recovery from the small stroke that led to his diagnosis.
How do you comfort a friend when your only medium of contact is words on a screen? What can you say? Losing a life partner is far more devastating than almost any other death - not only do you lose the person but all of your hopes, dreams and plans for the future as well. At least in real life, you can reach out and hug. And cry together.
I have something on my needles for Diana. It'll be finished soon. That is the best I can do - a gift, made with love, to hug her when I cannot.
At Nancy's funeral on Thursday, I said a quiet prayer for Andy. I don't think Nancy would have minded. And I hugged P and shared her grief.
- Pam
* Note the capital "T" on "Town"; a hangover from an earlier era which denotes London. All other towns in this country were once referred to with a small "t"; London was the Town. (Blame my mother.)
So, what has been happening? Last week can be summarised as two concerts, an NFL match, two deaths and a funeral. It was a busy, draining and highly emotional week. I'll write about the football later - there are photos to post, when I can find the camera - and much fun to describe, but I did want to say "Amy, got your email; I'm glad the program I posted to you arrived so quickly".
The concerts were Spandau Ballet at the NEC in Birmingham, and Fleetwood Mac at Wembley Arena. Again, I'll talk about them later. It is difficult to create a coherent post that ties together, when I really want to talk about the other things that happened last week.
I got a text message on Monday morning: P's mum finally passed away on Sunday after a years of battling with osteoporosis and, more recently, "chronic" breast cancer. She was 89 and, I think, had lived a long happy life, although the last few years had been filled with pain and disability from the osteoporosis. Nancy broke her hip last December and never quite recovered. P nursed her at home for the last few months, providing round-the-clock care. She did her mum proud.
The other news on Monday had me in tears sitting at my desk at lunchtime. Thank God I face the window when I look at my computer screen. Andy, the husband of one my net-friends, Dianakalt, fitted and died in hospital on Sunday afternoon. (Some of you may remember Diana from the Motley Fool.) They'd only been married a couple years. He was 40 and had recently been diagnosed with a brain tumour. No one had been expecting this; not yet. His diagnosis was recent - they were evaluating him for treatment - but he was well enough to be moved from a high-dependency unit to a physical rehabilitation unit to aid his recovery from the small stroke that led to his diagnosis.
How do you comfort a friend when your only medium of contact is words on a screen? What can you say? Losing a life partner is far more devastating than almost any other death - not only do you lose the person but all of your hopes, dreams and plans for the future as well. At least in real life, you can reach out and hug. And cry together.
I have something on my needles for Diana. It'll be finished soon. That is the best I can do - a gift, made with love, to hug her when I cannot.
At Nancy's funeral on Thursday, I said a quiet prayer for Andy. I don't think Nancy would have minded. And I hugged P and shared her grief.
- Pam
* Note the capital "T" on "Town"; a hangover from an earlier era which denotes London. All other towns in this country were once referred to with a small "t"; London was the Town. (Blame my mother.)
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Still here
It's been a busy couple of weeks and I haven't had sufficient time to myself to put together any coherent thought, let alone write the posts that are floating around my brain. I think, at last count, I had six topics on my "to write about" list; I've just been too brain dead after work to string a sentence together.
On the upside (or downside, if you are our client), my work project is still growing strong and doesn't appear to have got any closer to completion than four months ago. It's entered the construction version of the "knitting black hole" (where you knit and knit and the piece your are knitting on never seems to get any longer). The current estimated completion date is nearly a year after the original one. Oops!
On the downside, DH is now officially unemployed. He was made redundant nearly two weeks ago. The parsimonious so-and-so's made him work his notice period (3 months), gave him the statutory minimum redundancy payment (£380 per year of service), and made it as difficult as possible for him to hunt for a new job. He's had more leads in the last week than he had in the preceding 3 months.
Oh, and I went to the Knit & Stitch Show at Alexandra Palace two weeks ago with BBAW* and was very restrained. I somehow managed to fritter away the money in my purse, but I came away with almost no new yarn. I did buy a skein of Buffalo Gold #4 directly from Ron Miskin (who's family owns the firm), and picked up 3 mill-end skeins of Colinette's Jitterbug from a basket on the Colinette stand. For £2 a skein, instead of the usual £9.74, I got enough for a three pairs of socks (the skeins weigh in at between 65g and 95g instead of the usual 100g). The colourways are Moss, Adonis and, I think, Turquoise, but they weren't labelled so I'm guessing a bit.
- Pam
* BBAW = Best Buddy at (former) Work. Neither of us work there now but, for four years, I got to work with one of my best and closest friends.
On the upside (or downside, if you are our client), my work project is still growing strong and doesn't appear to have got any closer to completion than four months ago. It's entered the construction version of the "knitting black hole" (where you knit and knit and the piece your are knitting on never seems to get any longer). The current estimated completion date is nearly a year after the original one. Oops!
On the downside, DH is now officially unemployed. He was made redundant nearly two weeks ago. The parsimonious so-and-so's made him work his notice period (3 months), gave him the statutory minimum redundancy payment (£380 per year of service), and made it as difficult as possible for him to hunt for a new job. He's had more leads in the last week than he had in the preceding 3 months.
Oh, and I went to the Knit & Stitch Show at Alexandra Palace two weeks ago with BBAW* and was very restrained. I somehow managed to fritter away the money in my purse, but I came away with almost no new yarn. I did buy a skein of Buffalo Gold #4 directly from Ron Miskin (who's family owns the firm), and picked up 3 mill-end skeins of Colinette's Jitterbug from a basket on the Colinette stand. For £2 a skein, instead of the usual £9.74, I got enough for a three pairs of socks (the skeins weigh in at between 65g and 95g instead of the usual 100g). The colourways are Moss, Adonis and, I think, Turquoise, but they weren't labelled so I'm guessing a bit.
- Pam
* BBAW = Best Buddy at (former) Work. Neither of us work there now but, for four years, I got to work with one of my best and closest friends.
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Autumn has started
It's cold here. The weather turned on the weekend. Yesterday was particularly brutal, with cold radiating through the office walls. Here is this morning's message from the Facilities Manager:
Just a quick note to let you know that the heating system has failed due to a defective pressure switch and we are urgently attempting to source a replacement part. As soon as we have it the engineer will be back to fix it.
Hopefully this will be today.
Translation:
I really have tried to switch the heating on. It's not my fault that it isn't working - it's broken. STOP NAGGING ME!
- Pam
Just a quick note to let you know that the heating system has failed due to a defective pressure switch and we are urgently attempting to source a replacement part. As soon as we have it the engineer will be back to fix it.
Hopefully this will be today.
Translation:
I really have tried to switch the heating on. It's not my fault that it isn't working - it's broken. STOP NAGGING ME!
- Pam
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