Goodbye, and Thanks For All The Fish . . .

Friday. 6.25 a.m. It's another cooler morning. My digital thermometer currently reads 72ºF. I have found that the radiator controls in the flat are totally ineffective. They will not allow me to adjust the radiators and are thus at maximum temperature, and this is what is making the flat so overheated. I have now told Barbara, and she has contacted Mears, so hopefully, something can be done about the heating in my flat. Let's hope that this will resolve the issue once and for all.

Saturday. 6.45 a.m. Another bright and sunny day. My thermometer currently reads 74ºF. 

Tuesday. 7.25 a.m. Another bright and sunny morning. I think I'll resist the temptation to add further on this post for a while, so shutting down. Goodbye, and thanks for all the fish (as someone or other said.) I'll be back, but not sure when or even if. I have found this blog has become somewhat repetitive, and I don't have much to write about at the moment.

Maybe, Possibly . . . On The Edge, Only Slightly . . . But Perhaps Not . . Can't Really Decide . . .

 Good Friday. 7.45 a.m. I'm waiting to go and put my washing in the washing machine. I mustn't put my things in the machine before 8 a.m otherwise I get my wrists slapped. I mean that metaphorically of course  (or do I?) It's just someone being very petty about things. Well, I'm not one to waste the day lounging about in bed, and if I had my way I'd have the washing machine on an hour earlier. Such is life. I have started the process of making a Victoria sponge and have the cake tins lined with greaseproof paper I've sorted out ingredients and will go out and buy some more ingredients, such as eggs and flour and will start baking this afternoon. There's a Good Friday service at the Oaktree Centre at 10.30 a.m. so it will be after that.

8.20 a.m. It's an exceptionally warm and sunny morning. Can this be real? A British Bank Holiday with SUNSHINE? Except, is Good Friday officially a Bank Holiday? It should be. Monday is. My digital thermometer reads 74º F. It really seems crazy to have this place so warm. I think I'm turning into a hothouse plant. 

Washing in the machine and it's on. Oh, the excitement is too much! I'm overwhelmed by it all. How do I operate the newly-installed machine? It looks like the same machine as the other one, but it has what looks like a digital screen. How to operate?

3.15 p.m. I've been to the Good Friday service at church this morning. There seem to be quite a few new faces. Cross buns afterwards, but not hot. Oh, don't be picky! Well, you can't really call them Hot Cross when they aren't. I drove home and then nipped to Lidl as I wanted to make a Victoria sponge I'm taking it with me to my friends Mike and Margaret as I have been invited to lunch with them on Sunday.

The temperature in the flat as I write this is 81º F. It's crazy. I have the lounge window open and electric fans on in the lounge and my bedroom.

5.30 p.m. The temperature is currently 85ºF. How much warmer will it get?

Saturday. 7.08 a.m. It's another bright and sunny morning. The thermometer currently reads 76ºF. Still far too hot inside my flat, but it's cooler outside. Whose idea is it to allow these flats to be so over-heated? Not good for the environment and is a real waste of energy and money.

2.58 p.m. Currently, the temperature in my flat is 82ºF. The world has gone crazy. Even with two electric fans on full blast and the window open, this flat is like a steam room.

Easter Sunday. 6.55 a.m. The thermometer currently reads 78ºF. A really sweltering night. No possibility of the heat being reduced. Although, saying that, it was really cool and pleasant out when I took Alfie out.

Just learnt that ITV is going to revive the infamous reality show 'Big Brother.' There seems a sort of desperation in reviving this as it's been on Channel Four, then Five where it was dropped. Why do they think there's an audience for this on ITV? Going further down market. They have more or less got endless gameshows on and this, channel although not officially a game show, shows a total lack of imagination on behalf of the management of ITV. 

Monday. 3.30 a.m. I have woken up and the heat is too much, so here I am on my MacBook writing this. The digital thermometer reads 81ºF. How crazy is this situation?

1.50p.m. The temperature is currently 83ºF. Still enough to fry an egg, if one was inclined to do so (which I'm certainly not.)

Tuesday. 6.40 p.m. Currently, the temperature as recorded by my digital thermometer is 76ºF. I have had the windows open all night and both electric fans running, and it has been very uncomfortable in the flat. 

5.50 p.m. It's a good deal cooler as I write this. My digital thermometer currently reads 78ºF. 

Wednesday. 6.20 a.m. It's a good deal milder this morning, thank goodness.  My thermometer now reads 71 º F. At least it's a temperature which I can cope with.

What's To Become of Boris?

Tuesday. 6.30 a.m. Alfie wasn't expecting his usual early morning outing. He was asleep on my bed, curled up on my pillow and when he did awaken, he didn't make a noise, which is so unlike him as he usually makes a lot of noise as soon as I pick up his lead and make my intentions to go out with him.

Wednesday. 10.15 a.m. I had a knock on my door on Monday morning. I was to have an eye test. I couldn't believe it was a year since the last one. But what time? Today, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. I haven't been given a definite time, so will have to wait and see.

Boris Johnson has been handed a fixed penalty notice by the Police because of having a birthday party in Number 10, Downing Street. It seems absolutely ridiculous that he made the rules regarding lockdown and now he's been 'done' for breaking his own rules. But did he actually frame the legislation? Thinking about it, it would have been some Whitehall civil servant who wrote the legislation and then the Government signed it off. Was it necessary? In all honesty, no. We should never have had to be locked up like criminals and made to feel guilty about 'killing granny' as they kept telling us at the almost daily press briefings. We were told by the scientists that there were going to be more than 50,000 deaths from covid, which turned out to be a total fabrication. All predicted, by flawed computer modelling.

But Boris was handed a cake for his birthday. And Boris obviously can't ignore such things as cakes. He's like a naughty boy (think Billy Bunter, or for that matter Mr Toad, the central character in 'Wind In The Willows'.) He can never resist temptation. How is he likely to react to being confined, such as during lockdown? He can't tell the truth. Does Boris not realize that all this 'Partygate' business was more than likely a set-up, a trap to catch him out? Have a search, and discover which newspaper broke this story. Which newspaper, and particularly with what political leaning, broke the story of Boris having a party in the garden of Number 10. I think it was the definitely left-leaning Daily Mirror. Most likely in an attempt to dislodge him from his position as Prime Minister. Can you see where I'm going with this? The problem with Boris is he can't see he's being got at deliberately. He goes on acting like an idiot, and as a result, he's heading for a fall. But who took those incriminating photographs in the first place? When that photograph of the party in the garden of Number 10 was taken, where was the photographer? It must have been from a window of one of the buildings opposite Number 10. And what are those buildings? Most likely those belonging to various governmental departments and ministries. So, one can work out that no doubt the photographer was a government employee, possibly a civil servant who must have had contacts within the media, links to The Daily Mirror. See where this is heading? It doesn't take a Sherlock Holmes to work things out, can it?  On top of Boris Johnson getting clobbered by The Police for not adhering to the lockdown rules, how many civil servants also got their collars felt? Will we ever know? I bet we won't. Busy hiding in their ivory towers.

So, before I end this piece on the ever-accident prone Boris Johnson, will he be forced to resign? He's not likely to go himself. He's most likely to be forced out with a 'no-confidence vote from his own party. Then, who is going to replace him? For all his faults he does have a certain kind of charisma, even if it's the sort of 'upper-class twit' sort of charisma, as I've mentioned before, a combination of Mr Toad, Winnie The Pooh and Bertie Wooster. He doesn't fit any sort of role model, though, that's for sure. But when he goes (when not if as far as I can see.) he will be the first British Prime Minister to be forced out of office because of a birthday cake. Not going to look good in biography at some stage in the not-too-distant future. Most Ministers resign over such things as marital infidelity, links with spies, or some other misdemeanour or other but definitely, I can not recall one being removed from office over a few potato chips, a slice of birthday cake and a glass of cheap M and S plonk!

A Mad World, My Masters!

 Tuesday. 10.45 a.m. I had a visit from the gentleman from Mears about my bathroom. I would appear that I can't have a bath, unfortunately, as it would mean some structural alterations to the flat (ie: removing the airing cupboard. What use does it really have? Somewhere to store towels and bedding and not much else. )I can have a shower unit. I don't mind, so long as it's arranged, so I can actually stand under it. But I would love to be able to have a soak in a bath, but no hope. I may hear in either two weeks or as long as SIX MONTHS whether the work is going ahead. Someone in the Council has to make the decision whether the work has to go ahead. Why? Everyone else in this unit is having new bathrooms and kitchens, more because the old ones are well past their best. Some bureaucrat who sits in an office, pushing paper over a desk. Just there to make themself look important and just slowing down the decisions, a bit like Sir Humphrey Appleby in the sitcom 'Yes, Minister' but more likely some underling who would do the job. 

I was really unwell overnight. Really hot, painful joints and so on. I was wondering, as you would if it was covid, so I reluctantly did a test. I hate doing it, as poking swabs in my throat and nose is really unpleasant. I waited the obligatory 30 minutes for the result and only one red line showed up, so a negative result. But I was still feeling awful, so I did a second one yesterday evening. Another negative test. Then, when I was eating my evening meal, I had to be sick. Not nice. 

Wednesday. 8.40 a.m. I'm still feeling queasy. Still have aching joints, but it seems to be clearing up. I'm not going anywhere today. I will just stay in the flat, I think.

The stairs up to my flat are painted. I should actually be far more precise and say the bannisters and not the actual treads. They've been sanded and have the first white undercoat. 

Thursday. 7.00a.m. I'm not feeling as bad as I did yesterday morning, but I still have aching joints. I'll just have to let this thing run it's course.

I took Alfie to The Groom Room in Bletchley for his haircut. It's was going to take a good deal longer than it usually does, around an hour. As usual, when I went to collect him at around 4.45, he was just looking amazing. It's great to see his face properly as his eyes were lost behind a rather untidy fringe if you could call it that. And he smells better! And they managed to clean his teeth, which is a job I could never even attempt.

I had to wait for around 20 minutes before I could take Alfie into The Groom Room. It was surprisingly busy, which must say quite a bit about the quality of their work. People won't use a business, such as dog grooming, if the service is poor. The staff really seem to enjoy their work and the dogs they groom are well looked after. Alfie seems to love going there, and I think treats his grooming sessions as if he's being pampered and cared for, which I suppose in some ways he is.

Sunday. 2.20 a.m. Well, here I am, sitting and writing this. Just not getting back to sleep.

I have taken the confounded Canon printer back to Argos and got a refund and put it towards another printer, this time an HP model, paying around an extra £15. I have spent most of yesterday setting it up and I had most of it done within around an hour of unboxing it. It now prints from my iPad and iPhone and I have yet to sort out the MacBook, but I think I have that sorted. It's so much easier to set up than the Canon and I honestly think it's a better machine. A few differences, for example, the paper goes into the machine at the rear, but it really makes no difference.

I didn't go to church this morning as the fluey 'thing' is still hanging about. My leg muscles still ache, and my throat is dry, which is making my voice sound very odd. Actually be quite good for doing villain type voices, which I might try on the microphone if I can get it set up. 

I have managed to print some pages using the new HP printer. Success at last! I'm so glad that, after more than a week, I have got to 'mission accomplished.' All that annoyance with the Canon printer wasn't actually for nothing and it looks as if I have a far better printer as a result.

A Slight Chill

Friday.3.10 p.m. It's April Fools' Day. I have seen so many that are so obvious they don't deserve to be even considered as 'April Fools' stunts or jokes. I think if you spot them immediately, they haven't worked. It's the ones that more or less merged with the rest of what's in the newspapers, then they're worthy of the title of 'April Fool' and people are more likely to be sucked in and fall for them.

3.50 p.m. I'm attempting to connect my new Canon printer to wi-fi. After a great deal of searching, I found a video on YouTube which shows how to do this. But attempting to put my wi-fi router's password in it is next to impossible as the digital screen is very small, so it's extremely difficult to key in the upper and lower case letters and numbers of the password. I suppose if I keep on with it I will eventually succeed, but it really is hard work and my eyesight isn't good enough to see it. Ho-hum! What do they say about persistence? 'If at first, you don't succeed, try, try again!' How very true! It seems to be the same with most gadgetry you buy these days, you never get a printed manual of instructions. As with this Canon printer, you get extremely basic 'set-up' instructions with the item and some of it online, but then you really have to search the internet to get more detailed instructions, such as I have on YouTube. The printer is supposed to 'find' the wi-fi signal by showing the username (for want of a better way to describe it.) but when I attempted this it would find everyone else's Wi-Fi signal except my own.

Saturday. 2.45 p.m. I found I have several voicemails on my iPhone. One from Mears, asking me to phone to arrange an appointment for them to come and inspect my bathroom ahead of having an upgrade. I was near the phone when they rang on Friday afternoon, so I don't understand why I didn't hear it ring (actually, it doesn't 'ring.' It plays music from 'Star Wars.' I think it's the Darth Vader theme.) Well, does that mean I'm a step closer to them actually doing something about my bathroom? Don't hold your breath, but it does look as if my emailing that parish councillor has probably paid off.

Sunday. 8.05 a.m. Golly gosh! The sun is shining, even though not very powerfully. Another church service on Zoom this morning. Not entirely sure that it works, but I suppose it's better than nothing. Next week we're back at the Oaktree Centre.

Monday. 4.45 a.m. It's still too dark to really know what the weather is doing. As far as I can tell, no rain, and it's probably windy, but I'm not entirely sure.

It's raining, although not a heavy downpour. Alfie was not amused and was out only briefly and then shot back indoors when he felt the rain. Who can blame him?

8.30 a.m. I have responded to the voicemail from Mears, It was from a mobile number and there was nobody there to answer (now THERE'S a surprise!) so I have left my name and number. So do this mean I have to sit around with my mobile waiting for a callback? The plot thickens as they say . . .

8.55 a.m. Goodness! A fairly rapid callback and I have someone coming from Mears tomorrow at 9.30 a.m. to inspect my bathroom. Things are moving forward at last.

6.15 p.m. I have again attempted to try to get the Canon printer to connect to the router so I can in turn connect my iPad and iPhone so I can print from them, but no go. It remains stubbornly resistant to working. I am going to leave it so that I don't end up throwing the thing out of the window. Can you blame me?

Irksome Inking

Wednesday. 7.15 a.m. My Canon printer is being annoying. I don't think it's just my printer that plays up relentlessly. I have been fiddling with it to get it to work, but it still won't play ball. All I want it to do is print out some of my work, but it refuses. As a result, I have decided to replace it and have looked on the Argos website and have found what I think is a better printer, also a Canon, which can be connected to my MacBook via Wi-Fi and will also connect to my iPhone and iPad via an app. Just shows that if you upgrade technology, there are benefits. I have been looking for a way of connecting my iPad in particular to a printer, as there is material on there that I would like to print out.

Still no word from Mears regarding my bathroom being upgraded. I live in hope that something might happen regarding this, but I don't put a lot of faith in any of the organizations involved.

Thursday 7.20 a.m. It's icy this morning. My digital thermometer currently reads 55ºF. It was well over 70ºF up until only a couple of days ago. Mind you, that's indoors. It was something of a shock to find it bitterly cold when I took Alfie out around an hour ago. Then I discover ice on my kitchen window, which is left open to, ironically, let the heat out, because the flat is so over-heated. 

I have now purchased a new inkjet Canon printer. I am signed up to something where I use an app on my iPhone and scan the barcodes of everything I buy, and I earn points which can be redeemed for vouchers and other items and I had enough to transfer into Argos vouchers, which I did yesterday and ordered the new printer on the Argos website and collected the printer from the Argos store. This printer will work using wifi and can be connected to my iPad and iPhone, but I have only managed to get it to work via a cable. I hope to eventually get it connected to Wi-Fi, which would mean not going into the bedroom, where the printer is set up and being able to print from the lounge via Wi-Fi.

9.00 a.m. Goodness, gracious! It's now snowing. I think it's a good idea to turn the heating up and probably diving back under the duvet for the rest of the day. I can't take Alfie out in this. He won't like the wet or the cold, and neither will I.

4.50 p.m. We had a tenant's meeting this afternoon. There was a lady there who is from an independent organization researching tenants' grievances about Mears, the maintenance company who are supposed to look after Dexter House. They don't seem to have a very good reputation, and it's not just this project which is having problems with them.