Better Summer Weather and Bad Tempered People

The weather has taken a turn for the better. In fact, it's positively heatwave-time! We managed to sit outside and have our evening meal at our new table yesterday evening. It certainly makes a change from the rotten weather we've had to endure for about the past week. It seemed unfair when you consider it was Half Term, as well as the fact that our holiday we'd hoped to have at the booked cottage over Easter was aborted due to the awful weather.

On Friday, we drove to Worcester to see my daughter Chloe and my new grandson George. The journey there was less stressful than it might have been, due to the fact we went via Buckingham and then the Motorway. It took less than two hours. When we drove there for Chloe's graduation ceremony (well over 7 years ago, or maybe more, I'm not sure now.) the journey seemed to take a good deal longer, travelling via the M1 and around Birmingham. Admittedly it was mid-week and during the heavy volume  travelling time and it was a really awful journey. This time, it seemed a much better route and we will be going that way on 10th July as we're going to George's Christening on that day.

On Sunday, we visited Whipsnade Zoo again. Carol's Fellowship subscription runs out next week and she'd got a letter from Z.S.L. (Zoological Society of London) reminding her of the fact and so we went with the letter and paid the annual fee so we're able again to visit both London and Whipsnade Zoos without paying any entrance fees. We drove the car in again. As it costs around £25 per person together with £20 for the car, that's a saving of £70 each time we visit. We arrived at 9.45 a.m. (the zoo opens at 10 a.m.) and there was a queue of cars waiting. We were on the end of the queue and you just had to sit patiently in the car and wait for the gates to open and drive in. Quite easy you would imagine. But this rather unpleasant individual drove up and seemed to think it was his right to barge straight in. He wound down his car window and hurled abuse at us, for no other reason that he imagined we should get out of the way for him. Not a nice situation and Carol was understandably upset by the incident. He presumably drove to the car park and walked in with his family, but all the time we were in the zoo Carol was concerned that this unpleasant individual was going to find us and hurl a further load of abuse at us just because we'd got there first. There are really some crazy self-obsessed people out there. Sad really.

I actually got to wear my shorts on Saturday. I bought them last year in Debenhams and because the weather was so awful I hardly got to wear them at all last summer. Lets hope the weather is better this year so I get more wear out of them. I've been to Tesco at Kingston and bought a new sun hat because I need to keep my head covered when it's really sunny. The hat I have is a few sizes too small and if a hat is too tight on my head I get a headache. 

Wild, Wet and Windy Wednesday

Carol is on Half-Term from the Academy this week. We had planned to have a day out in London and had spent quite a lot of time researching where we wanted to go when we got there. We would have gone by train and booked via the internet, but when the day broke it was a very wet and wild morning that greeted us as we peered out of the bedroom window. We had seen trailers for the Disney animated film 'Zootopia' and being Disney fans Carol went on-line and found that there was a showing at 10.50 a.m. at the new Odeon  cinema complex at the MK Stadium which we had yet to visit. We drove towards the stadium and parked nearby. It was reasonably early and the car park was filling up fast, surprisingly. I suppose the reason being that it was Half Term and parents were taking their children out. We entered the Odeon complex which is in the centre of the newest parade of businesses within the Milton Keynes stadium complex. This is a bright and breezy building with all modern conveniences within. We were able to book our tickets on a sort of A.T.M. and as a result, we got the tickets printed out immediately. We could have booked on-line in the same way we had booked our rail tickets a couple of months ago when we went to Southampton to visit Carol's mum and dad. We had some time to spare before the film began and had coffee and pastries in the branch of Costa which is in the cinema complex. We went into the cinema auditorium, number 8, around ten minutes before the programme was due to start. We had booked Premium seats, which meant we had far more leg-room to sit, which suited me because I'm 6ft 2in tall and usually, whenever we go to the cinema, which is rare, or the theatre, which is far more frequent, there is barely enough leg-room. Milton Keynes Theatre has very little leg room in any of the areas of their auditorium and it is annoying in a modern theatre that you can't sit without having to stand up to let other people through. This wasn't the case in this new cinema. The sound quality when the film began was excellent (7.1 Dolby sound I believe) and a pin-sharp image. The film was good, but quite honestly it was far too long and they could have trimmed around 20 minutes off the running time. It couldn't decide what sort of audience it was aimed at. If it was mainly for children a lot of the gags would have gone over the children's head, frankly. But considering the number of times we've been to the cinema over the last few years it didn't matter as it was good to have some quality time together. The last film we saw was "Les Miserables" and that was 2012. We then went to T.G.I. Friday's which was a few doors along from the Odeon cinema and had a meal.

Gas Boiler Replaced

On Saturday morning, I decided I needed to find out what the position was regarding the boiler being replaced or repaired so I rang the landlord. His wife replied and said we'd be telephoned when he came back. No doubt going to the different plumbing stores to get prices for a new boiler. We had been told that it wasn't actually worth repairing and as such wouldn't get the safety certificate in it's current state. We got a call around 45 minutes later to tell us that he had got a company to come out for Monday morning to install the new boiler. We were keeping our fingers crossed that this was actually happening. As a result, we decided we needed to get out of the house. Carol's week off, for Half-Term has been somewhat spoilt by the problems we've had regarding the boiler. If we hadn't had to search around to find the landlord, wait for him to find a gas company to check the old installation and then find someone to install a new boiler, we might have done far more, going out and about as we usually do during school breaks. Just hope things will have improved for the next holiday period in the next few weeks, which will be  the Easter break.

We did what we often do when we need a refresher, and that was to drive out of Milton Keynes and find somewhere to visit and possibly get a spot to eat and drink. We had favoured Brackley, which is on road west of Buckingham and a place now by-passed so you miss easily when you drive past, so it seemed an ideal place to visit and wander around as it is supposed to have antique shops and is used occasionally on television shows such as Antiques Road Trip and Bargain Hunt, two television shows we watch and quite enjoy. By the time we reached Buckingham, the weather was rapidly changing, the rain-clouds were gathering and a rain storm was imminent. Beyond Buckingham, we came to a garden centre, which we have visited before and been into the restaurant. This was Buckingham Garden Centre. I know, a not exactly imaginative name, but I suppose it accurately incorporates the name of the town into it's name. We were not disappointed with the restaurant and were glad we went in as the rain began to pour down outside.

Moving on toMonday: the gasfitters arrived to install the new boiler. The dogs became somewhat confused by the appearance of the strangers in the house. Alfie spent most of the day really stressed out, whining and barking. I had hoped to keep both dogs in the lounge, but during the morning, Poppy got out through the front door. How she escaped without being detected I have no idea, but I went out into the estate and couldn't see her anywhere. I had looked in all the usual places she goes when she wants to be on her own, for example, under our bed, in the garden and behind the sofa. But no signs. Fortunately our neighbour, Gary, came go my assistance, and we eventually tracked her down to the park and she was returned safely to our house. Alfie meanwhile had been put on his lead and put in the bedroom, which he didn't like and made an awful noise until I went to stay with him for an hour or two which made him calm down, fortunately.
It took until around 6 o'clock for the workmen to complete the installation of the new boiler and to tidy up and leave by which time Carol had returned to work and she had a bath. Thankfully we now can say the job is complete after a very nerve-wracking week. 

More Gas Boiler Woes

It's the first day of Half-Term, which means Carol gets a break from work at Milton Keynes Academy and we can spend some quality time together. We have hopefully got a couple of days out planned. As I now get my pension it means we have extra cash for one or two little treats, such as trips to London. There are a couple of exhibitions we'd like to go to, on about Leonardo da Vinci at the Science Museum, a character who intrigues me and another, at the Victoria and Albert museum celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Olivier Awards and the Society of West End Theatre. So we didn't get up as early as we would normally do on a school day. Unfortunately, the gas went out. I assumed it was because the credit had run out on the meter, so it meant I couldn't have my usual morning shave. I have to admit that my day doesn't begin properly until I've had a decent shave and that needs hot water. Tell me I'm old fashioned or some sort of obsessive, but that's the way I am. So I had to boil the kettle in the kitchen and carry it upstairs to the bathroom sink. We needed to get shopping so went to Sainsbury's and on the way back went to the local shop to put £20 on the key which goes in the meter in the outside meter cupboard in order to top up and so have the heating on as well as hot water. In order to reach the meter in the cupboard, you need to stand on something because it is in such a position in the cupboard, at the top and at the back which is impossible to get to unless you stand on something, such as a chair. We have a step we bought from IKEA especially for this job. You have to put the yellow card in the meter and press the button in order to put the credit on, and make sure the switch is off on the wall near the gas boiler in the kitchen. I noticed, when I put in the card, that there was a little over £2 left on the meter, which suggested that it wasn't because of the gas credit running out that was the reason for there being not hot water or heating in the house. It would most likely something to do with the water pressure in the boiler and Carol was able to get it to re-fire with a certain amount of effort and patience. But, after about a dozen-and-a-half attempts it was obvious that the boiler wasn't going to work. By now we were at the point of trying to think how we could possibly solve the problem of the boiler not working. One would be to ring our landlord but from experience, we knew that if we got him involved it would probably take days or weeks before anything is done, and also he would be likely to get some friend of his to repair the boiler and most likely make more of a mess of the thing. As it is, you are only supposed to use a registered C.O.R.G.I. engineer to do any work on anything which runs on gas. I have a feeling that this organization has been superseded by a newer similar government body. So, we decided to attempt to get a reliable company to come and repair the boiler, even if it meant paying for it ourselves. So we found the number of British Gas and set up an appointment for Friday, which was the earliest they could come.

Having found that there were some items we had forgotten when we went to Sainsbury's we decided to go to Waitrose, which is a good deal closer to home. When we got there we were surprised by how crowded and busy it was. Then Carol saw Pauline and her husband, who had been a teacher with her at the Academy and they had a long conversation. They have arranged to meet up during the week.

We have had to have a small electric heater on in the lounge for most of the afternoon and evening as it has been quite cold today. We both of us need to keep warm due to us both having health issues, Carol with diabetes and myself with my heart and by late afternoon we decided that perhaps we would ring our landlord and ask him to deal with the boiler repair. After all, it is his house and he should take the responsibility for the boiler repair.

House Guests

Carol came home from work and told me that we would be having house guests. Brian is a new member of staff at Milton Keynes Academy and he and his girlfriend, (another teacher, although she doesn't teach at the Academy, but at a school in Beaconsfield apparently.) have been having problems with their landlord (seems infectious, this business of landlords, as you will recall from earlier posts on here.) and as we have a vacant room, it seemed that we could come to their aid on a temporary basis, for around a month or so until they can find more permanent accommodation.  As we were given so much help when we had all the problems with our former landlord it seemed only right that we should do the same for other people in a similar sort of situation. So they arrived at around 6.15 yesterday evening, just as we were having our meal. We had to put the dogs in the kitchen when they came in and Alfie was excited when they met him, Poppy being her usual friendly self. They spent the rest of their evening ferrying their belongings from their former accommodation. We had to move our bicycles from their parking space in the entrance hall to the kitchen to make way for more of their belongings. All went smoothly and they hardly made a sound when they came back when we had gone to bed. Alfie is still not sure about them. I think it's to do with having his routine altered but by this morning he was far more settled. 

I managed to get the rest of the grass cut early this morning. I did most of it yesterday afternoon before I went to meet Carol from work. One of the plastic blades on the mower broke, and I had to replace it before I began mowing, so thankfully that job is out of the way before the Bank Holiday and Half-Term holiday as I don't really want to mow the grass next week.