General Election and Fridge/Freezer Delivery

So, we had a General Election yesterday. I took Alfie out as usual after 7 o'clock yesterday and no sooner had I bought him back to the flat, I went back out and walked immediately to the Community Centre in Oldbrook, just opposite the Green and next door to The Cricketer's pub, which was being used as a Polling Station. I was amazed by how many people were coming and going. I don't think, considering the early hour (the polling station would have just opened at 7a.m.) I have seen so many people at a polling station for a General Election.

As mentioned in my last blog post, I had to deal with the fridge/freezer defrosting and failing miserably and, as a result, ruining an entire load of food, which had to be thrown away. I was scratching my head to find a solution and came up with one fairly quickly, by ordering a brand new, full-size fridge/freezer from the on-line retailer, Very.  As a result I could pay it off in instalments, and because it's a larger fridge/freezer (actually twice or even more in size to the pathetic thing I was given, and which has let me down big time by breaking down.) Fortunately I had managed to clear the account and was glad that I hadn't closed it down completely. The replacement fridge/freezer was expected to be delivered on Thursday (yesterday), but when I ordered the thing I was not sure at what time of day it was likely to be delivered.

On Wednesday I got a text message to let me know that the fridge/freezer was scheduled to be delivered between 12.15 and 2.15 on Thursday. Then yesterday, Thursday, I got another text message telling me it was going to arrive at around 12.30. Then, by following a link through an email I was sent by the delivery company, I could actually follow there the lorry was on a map. It arrived at around 12.45.

Having got the new fridge/freezer into the flat, carried by two men from the delivery company, it had to stand for several hours before plugging in. This, in order to allow the refrigerant in the system to settle, because it had been on the lorry and then carried into the flat, on it's side. It was quite a difficult job to unpack it, as it was packaged in cardboard, polystyrene and plastic, leaving a large amount of this packing, which will now have to be disposed of, probably taken to the tidy-tip in Bleak Hall. Having allowed the machine to stand for 4 hours, I plugged it into the power point and  I turned on the mains. I had to store milk and other items in the community kitchen, otherwise it would have gone off if left in the kitchen belonging to the flat.

All day the weather had been appalling. When I first went out with Alfie for his early morning walk on Thursday morning, it was cold and wet. Rain falling and a strong wind. No sooner had Alfie realised that it was raining, wet and miserable, he turned tail at the front door and more or less went back in the flat. But he seriously needed to go out, so we walked along Strudwick Drive towards Oldbrook Green, but before we'd even reached the crossing over Oldbrook Boulevard, he turned round and refused to go any further, and, honestly, who could blame him?

Today, (Friday) it is cold and windy, but it's quite bright and sunny.

Failing Fridge/Freezer

A bit of a disaster this morning. I found the fridge/freezer, which was given to me by the Council when I moved in, had defrosted, which meant all the contents had to be thrown away. A good week's worth of food and my money is running out rapidly before I get my next pension payment next week. I have now ordered a new, larger model on Very and I will pay it off by instalments. Fortunately I cleared the account before I moved to Dexter House. The thing should be delivered by the end of the week and once I am paid I will stock up on food to go in it. The old fridge/freezer was far too small, meaning it was extremely difficult to put larger items, such as frozen vegetables, in it. Also, it's so low that I have to kneel on the floor to be able to see what's inside it. The new model should therefore make life considerably easier. I will need to remove the stupid little fridge/freezer as I can't keep a redundant kitchen appliance in the flat. It will need to be taken to the tidy-tip in Bleak Hall, and they're welcome to it as far as I'm concerned. It's not even 3 months old and conked out. I'm not impressed. Just a load of total junk. The best place for it is in the skip.

Alfie is being his usual self. I went to Lidl to do some shopping and got a sandwich to eat when I got back. Alfie, as ever, sat staring at me from his position on the sofa, almost willing me to give him a bit of the sandwich. I resisted for as long as possible, but Alfie got as close to me as he could, by which time I give in and break off  a corner of the sandwich. He eats this morsel, and I continue to munch, but relent and give him  tiny bit more. He doesn't take it, pokes it with his nose. He often does this when you offer him a bit of food. I put that bit on the sofa, next to him, and he pokes it further with his nose and then pushes it on the floor. He does it with a second piece. How amusing, I think. He doesn't like cushions on the sofa, ether, and he pushes them off, again, with his nose.

I had to ring Ashfield Medical Centre to make a doctor's appointment. I started ringing at around 8.15 and eventually got through. The system would seem to be turned off until the staff can be bothered to have it on and actually answer (probably I'm wrong, but that's how it appears to me.) I had to wait for two people in the queue in front of me (the system tells you how many people are ahead of you in the queue.) How long does it take to explain to the receptionist what you need to see the doctor for? If it's me, it can't be more than 30 seconds at most.) I was told I couldn't have an appointment until a few day's ahead. Eventually they told me a doctor would ring me on Thursday (Which is General Election Day) Then, for some inexplicable reason my imagination took over and I said 'Well, as long as I'm at home because I'm expecting Boris Johnson to ring me as I'm advising him on Brexit and the way his election campaign is going.' I don't know what hit me at that specific moment, but it just came out. And the woman on the other end of the telephone said, 'Oh, really!' as if what I had just said was true- well, of course it wasn't and unlikely to be and I had to say it wasn't true, just in case, to make it clear.
Sometimes these things come into my head and I have to 'go with the flow.' I certainly did on this occasion!

Fridge-Thawing and Chasing Cats

I spent most of Saturday morning de-frosting the fridge/freezer. I had turned the thing off on Friday night, because the third of the drawers I had ordered from Candy was delivered by Parcel Force on Friday morning. I cleared out the old drawers and had to bin a lot of stuff that wasn't worth keeping and the rest I put in a plastic box and took next door because Shelley and Garry allowed me to put it in their freezer until mine was ready for me to replace it in the cleaned-out and defrosted fridge/freezer. I should have left the fridge/freezer door open because it didn't defrost as quickly as I'd imagined, so early on Saturday I left it open and it seemed to thaw relatively quickly. I had put an old towel on the floor to try and absorb as much of the melt water as possible and it soon became like a tidal wave had hit and it ran all over the floor and under the table. I knew it would be a mess but I had to cope with it until the whole fridge/freezer was clear of ice. It was the fact that there was so much ice that caused the problem with the drawers breaking in the first place, so much that it was difficult to slide them out. The old broken drawers can be taken to the tidy-tip in Bleak Hall late next week, along with lots of other refuse, the packaging from the Panasonic microwave and quite  few other bits ad pieces which are hanging around the house. It isn't worth going until at least Thursday, because it's likely to be very busy, because people seem to use a Bank Holiday as an excuse to do clearing-out of their attic, garage or wherever they have unwanted stuff stored. The BBC1 programme, 'Money For Nothing' is based on the fact that people throw out old bits of furniture, either because they want to up-grade it, they inherit it from relatives or parents, it's not fashionable or else it's past it's best, broken and probably past repair. Sarah Moore, one of the designers who fronts this show, along with Jay Blades, takes these items away before they hit the skips (having got special permission to do this because you're not allowed to remove items from a tidy-tip otherwise.) and these pieces of furniture is restored and 're-purposed.' It's quite amazing to see what becomes of these pieces of furniture, sometimes transformed into bright, funky and quite striking pieces.

By mid-morning the ice had cleared from the fridge/freezer. I cleaned the shelves in the fridge section, taking them all out and wiping them as well as the shelves in the door. I was then able to turn the thing on again at the electric wall socket and it gradually started to freeze up, but not as much as it did before and producing too much ice. I think it will be more efficient, not having to work as hard and it doesn't seem to make quite as much as it did before and not producing a lot of melt water which gathered in a pool on the floor of the fridge section and trickling out onto the kitchen floor. So, around 10.30 the job was completed, and I wiped the outside of the whole unit along with the rubber seals in the door which had got very dirty. Job well and truly completed and the floor mopped and cleaned. I just have to make sure that it doesn't get as iced-up so that the drawers get broken again.

(Sunday) I had intended going out later than usual to take Alfie for his routine walk around Eaglestone Park. We got down to the area of grass where I usually let Alfie off his lead, but there was a black sat sitting in front of one of the houses within the park. Alfie wasn't slow in discovering it and the cat must have wondered what on earth had stuck it, because it shot off into the wooded area with Alfie in hot pursuit. I shouted at Alfie, but he wasn't going to come back immediately. I was concerned that the cat would run out and onto a road and that, if Alfie followed, he was likely to get run over by a car. But, having run after him and shouting loudly, he did eventually come back and I decided it would be best to put his lead on because I didn't want him running away, but usually he does come back to me, but knowing how he reacts to cats, I wasn't going to find out the difficult way.

Strange Delivery

I returned home from visiting central Milton Keynes, to discover a card on the doormat, informing me that the courier company, DPD, had attempted to deliver me a parcel, but took the driver took it away when they discovered nobody at home. So it was returned to the depot. I wasn't sure what it could be and was intrigued to discover what it was they were attempting to deliver. I rang the telephone number on the card and discovered that this parcel was in their warehouse and I could go and called it. No problem. I could use the SatNav to find the address. I also saw on the card that there was a little map and that it couldn't have been all that much further off from Camphill, so I got in the car and set the SatNav. Not that it was a great deal of help . . . I just drove off and found the industrial estate and then couldn't find the exact building which was where DPD was located. Having parked the car next to what I assumed was the right building, I tried several doors, all of which were locked and then saw a group of people sitting outside the building, presumably on their lunch break. I asked them where DPD was and they pointed to another unit, so I walked over and saw some DPD vehicles, so assumed it to be the right place. I walked through the warehouse, empty and looking decidedly abandoned and not exactly busy. A man appeared and I showed him the card that had come through my door and he told me to come through to the reception area. He went off to find the parcel, which was large and had no indication on it to tell me what was within. He then asked me for identification, but, as I didn't have any on me, he told me he couldn't hand the parcel over. I said I had my wallet in my car and there would be some form of ID in it, so I walked back and then decided to drive to the DPD carpark. I have to say this company didn't make it exactly clear where their depot was, it wasn't well signed, but I managed to park outside the reception and then walked back in. I found my Driving Licence in my wallet, which has my photograph on it, which the reception man took to be good enough ID and got me to sign the electtronic pad to say I'd received the parcel and then I carried the said parcel out to the car and put it in the boot. It was then that I read the label on the side of the parcel and found it was from Candy, the fridge company I'd ordered new drawers for the fridge/freezer. This, because several of them are broken, basically because the fridge/freezer is iced up and there is far too much ice, making it difficult to get the drawers to shut properly inside the body of the fridge/freezer, hence me telephoning Candy to order new drawers. Two of them were in the parcel, but the third one, the lower of the three, was not in stock and will, hopefully, be sent on to me when it is available. I was somewhat disappointed that this was all the parcel contained, even though it was what I had ordered, and these drawers are essential, but not exactly exciting. The box was far too large for the two plastic drawers it contained. A lot of packaging, though.

A Marathon To Get To Church (and Other Matters)

(Sunday) I hadn't remembered that there was going to be a marathon run around Milton Keynes today and tomorrow (Monday.) So, when I realised that I might be stuck in Eaglestone with runners going along the road in front of my home, I panicked because I wanted to get to church. I came out of the estate near the Eaglestone shops, because the exit onto Saxon Street (opposite Milton Keynes Academy) was closed off with signs and barriers and there were people with high vis jackets on. Then, when I came out onto Chaffron Way, I found I couldn't turn left and had to turn right and then down and onto Marlborough Street.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have nothing against marathons, so long as you don't expect me to take part. Just not my thing.  Just the thought of having to possibly wear Lycra doesn't appeal to me somehow. There's noting wrong with people doing what they enjoy. And a lot of cash is raised for various charities and it's a community thing. There's not enough 'community' going on in this country as it is, we need events that bring people together. What with Brexit and all the divisions that's caused, it would be wrong to oppose something such as a marathon which brings people closer. My only objection is that it has to come down the road where I live and it means, if I want to get out in my car, I can't. O.k., you say, but it's only a few days in the year and then only a couple of hours on a Bank Holiday or a weekend. Well, yes, true. But if it's the only time you have with your partner or other members of your family, why do we have to be inconvenienced by this event? It could be easily be re-routed along the Redway, which is only a few yards away. Then I notice it comes along Golden Drive and then, further along, goes onto the Redway, so why not all the way along the Redway? If I so much make a comment to this effect on Facebook, I get the full force of someone or other's complaints. It's as if I'm not allowed to make a simple comment, a statement of common sense, I get shot down in flames. Oh dear, even say something in opposition. But the fact is, this person is easy to wind up. He/she has no sense of the irony. Doesn't take much to get them upset, riled I think the word is (must look that one up. I have just had a look. Perhaps I've spelt it wrong. Perhaps it's spelt with a 'y' instead of an 'i'.) I'm quite good at winding people up. Just need someone to take the bait and get them started, ranting and raving! Quite a few people out there like that. Just put the word 'Brexit' into the conversation and light blue touch-paper. Probably best to retire to a safe place and stick your fingers in your ears . . .

To more mundane matters . . .

I'm going to have to defrost the fridge/freezer. What excitement. Not. It has built up a great deal of ice and the fridge part has water that runs down the sides and gathers on the floor and when you open the door it tends to gush out. The freeze temperature probably needs adjusting. It hasn't been defrosted since it was first installed, I can't remember how long ago. The plastic drawers in the freezer section cause a problem, because with the amount of ice, some of them don't close properly. I have a problem that, if the door isn't closed properly, then there is a tendency for there to be a certain amount of thawing of the food inside. I have, unfortuntely, broken a couple of these drawers, because of the difficulty of pushing the drawers back inside. As a consequence, several have got severely broken. One has now got a large piece broken off completely and there is  danger of food inside the drawer falling out. I need to get these drawers replaced as soon as possible. So I found the manufacturer's website on-line yesterday and their telephone number, which, fortunately, being a Sunday, they were open for business. The manufcturer of the fridge/freezer is Candy, which I didn't realise was part of Hoover. I had to find the details of the fride/freezer on a label inside the fridge section, in the 'crisper' department. I spoke to someone at the call centre and, when he was given the relevant details of the fridge/freezer, was able to look up whether they could supply replaceent drawers. They can, but they don't have all the drawers in stock at he moment, and if I ring back in a couple of week's time, they will hopefully have the relevant items in stock and can dispatch them to me. Once they arrive, I can empty the fridge/freezer, get it defrosted and cleaned and the whole thing back in proper working order once again.

Later. I can't get out  in the car at the moment (11.15a.m.) because the Milton Keynes marathon is going past. Odd assortment of humanity, all shapes, sizes, colours, genders (to be 'diverse.') Why do some men have absolutely no idea of what they look like? Dressed in inappropriate clothing. I'll say no more. Just that, in the summer, when it's hot, why do men have no idea (not every man, of course.) that sometimes they look awful in shorts and tee shirts. Just not going there . . . Don't their women-folk tell them off when they get the horrible baggy shorts out? Go and by some better-fitting shorts. Not difficult to find. I have a vague idea what I look like. Just USE A MIRROR before going out!

Someone, somewhere near is using a Strimmer or a similar gadget in their garden. It's making a horrible noise. Why is it people insist on making this sort of noise whenever it's a Bank Holiday and all I want myself is to be quiet and relax? The D.I.Y companies, such as B and Q and Homebase, seem to think they can make more money by having offers of things like lawnmowers, Strimmers and other grass cutters, not realizing that they are condemning the rest of us to the dreadful noise they create.

There is a mystery. A white mattress has appeared just opposite my kitchen window. I'm intrigued as to where it's come from, and why someone would think it a good idea to dump it at the side of the road. There is really no need to just dump anything. You can take such items which have no further use or are just worn out or broken, to the tidy-tip in Bleak Hall. I took a photo with my iPhone and sent it with an email to the council so that they would be aware of this item. It is actually fly-tipping and as such it's an offence and whoever dumped it there can be fined heavily, and they deserve to be done for this.

Cutting Grass and Neighbour's Noises

I have today been out and cut the grass. Not something I exactly relish, as the lawnmower is quite hard work to push and the grass is long, but it's no use just thinking about it. You just have to get on and do the job. It's surprising how the rotary mower manages the job so well, when all that actually cuts the grass is a tiny plastic blade. I was surprised when I had to replace the thing when the mower gave up cutting and had to venture out to find a replacement. Not an easy job, but I did manage to eventually buy a packet of these things in our local branch of Homebase. They fit in quite easily into the machine but I'm still surprised by how a piece of plastic manages to cut the grass. Probably not as efficiently as a conventional mower, but not bad, nonetheless. You have to reel our the electric cable and plug the thing into the socket which the fridge/freezer uses (not forgetting to re-plug it afterwards, otherwise we'll have a lot of de-frosted food, which wouldn't be such a good idea.) The reel the cable out into the garden and then retrieve the mower from the shed and then set-to and cut the grass. I still refuse to refer to it as a lawn, as I've mentioned in earlier posts. It's no more a lawn than any other stretch of grass around here. No striped finish, worthy of Wimbledon or a cricket pitch (not that I'm particularly interested in either activity.) Just a rough bit of grass, more ups-and-down than flat and perfect. When it rains, the water runs towards the patio doors into the house. It's best not to attempt to cut after wet. Water and electricity don't mix so it's best to attempt cutting when dry and the sun is out. Generally, if I start the job, I want it done in one go, but it can take no more than 10-15 minutes.

Yesterday I did some washing. It was quite a warm and sunny day, so it was a good excuse to get this job out of the way. Two loads, done fairly quickly and efficiently. Our relatively new machine has an economy cycle which means it does a load in approximately 45 minutes. Quite handy to have the timer on the machine which shows how far into the cycle the machine has got. I must say the machine is far more efficient compared to the old machine we had.

I notice that our neighbour has erected a shed in his garden. There seems to be a great deal of noise going on constantly. I look over the fence and see this construction set up in one corner of the garden. I can't really fail to notice as I'm pegging out washing yesterday morning. Where on earth did our neighbour, Gary, get the shed? It looks somewhat rickety and ancient, certainly not brand new. As they say, every man has to have a shed. Not me, particularly. But this ancient thing looks as if it's had better days. No doubt it was someone's who didn't want it, or replaced it with a new one. It makes me wonder how on earth he got it delivered, on the back of a lorry or something, which would have needed to be quite large as the flat pieces would have been quite large to fit a van or smaller vehicle. Perhaps strapped to a roof-rack or something? I don't know. but I wasn't aware of any building when it was constructed as they make quite a lot of noise next door, hammering and generally making D.I.Y. noises.

House Inspection Pending

We received a telephone call from our belovéd landlord the other evening. He's coming to visit. It's the annual inspection of the house. Instead of agreeing to him coming the next day, we told a little fib and said we were going on holiday (this was last Tuesday.) and that we wouldn't be back for a week. In fact, this gives us ample time to get the house clean and ready for his gracious arrival on Saturday evening. There can't be much to give him concern (apart from the roof of the garden shed, the fact that we've replaced the fridge/freezer and the washing machine. The fridge/freezer was replaced last year, which was recorded in one of these posts, and it was here when he last visited (around a year ago. The floor upstairs near the bathroom and the fact we spent our own cash on having the garden fence replaced and the plumbing done under the sink when we had a leak when the washing machine was being used) so he must have seen the fridge/freezer and not been aware. In fact I doubt very much if he even noticed that the thing wasn't the same one which was here when we moved in around six years ago. Not exactly the brightest button in the box, our landlord. Still, he does at least leave us alone, even though he isn't keen on spending anything on th house which might improve things. Never mind. We have begun our cleaning and this morning we have spent some time weeding the front area of the house outside which has got very over grown. I chopped down a rather nasty tree which keeps growing outside the front door and used the lopper I bought from Wickes for the purpose.

Wet, Wild and Windy

The weather seems to have made a backwards step. So much for 'flaming June.' It's more like Autumn. Wind and rain. Just as well we went out when we did on Saturday, because we certainly wouldn't have bothered with the weather the way it is today. 

I went to get my hair cut early at Essential Barbers in Monkston Park. They opened at 9.30 and I was done by 9.50. Really cheered up when the lady who cut my hair asked me if I was 65 as I would get my hair cut for £6. I don't know whether I'm pleased or not, but I suppose I should be pleased. When we went to Twycross Zoo on Saturday I got my entry at reduced concession as I'm over 60.  I then drove to Sainsbury's as we had to have tonight's meal organised. I have made a mistake in thinking the new fridge/freezer was coming yesterday. I mis-read the email, which actually said 8th June. Then I got a call from Candy yesterday morning, the company who make the fridge/freezer we've ordered from Very and they say it will be delivered after Thursday and they will ring again on that day to give me more idea what time but within a 'four-hour window' which can mean anything. Just be glad when the thing is delivered and set up and running so that we can go shopping properly and put whatever needs to go into the freezer will be safe from thawing out. It's just annoying only being able to shop for food on the day, but there is no other way of managing things at the moment. 

I selected what I wanted in Sainsbury's and then went to the checkout to pay. I was intrigued by what the man in front had bought; a watermelon and a packet of balloons. What on earth was he going to do with these items? Your guess is as good as mine.