More Of The Same

 Saturday. 4.00 p.m. It's a rather dull and overcast sort of afternoon. The morning started relatively sunny and pleasant, but as the day progressed it gradually became more and more overcast. I had hoped that I could go out with the video camera and do some filming, but it didn't seem such a good idea. I am gradually getting to grips with the various settings, thanks mostly to the various YouTube videos I have been watching.

I have been doing some housework. I have a Vax steam mop, which is extremely good for cleaning the floors in the flat, but it does take a great deal of effort to use. I have avoided getting a traditional mop and bucket but decided that the kitchen floor needed a decent cleaning, so I bought a Vileda mop and a bucket at Sainsbury's the other day. I put some Flash liquid in the hot water in the bucket, and I was surprised at how effective it was. I have cleaned the kitchen floor, and the bathroom, which has now got a new floor (I must have mentioned this in an earlier post.) Also, the entrance hall. It was whilst cleaning the bathroom floor that I thought I could get some new mats for the bathroom. The old ones were falling apart. I attempted to give them a machine wash a few weeks ago, but unfortunately, the sponge rubber backing came off and caused a real mess in the machine when I'd finished, and it took quite a lot of time and effort to remove it. Also in the tumble drier. So, yesterday morning I went to The Range, to buy replacement bath mats. Usually, you get a bath mat and a matching mat for the toilet, with a bit cut out to go around the pedestal. I wandered around the store, and it took me a long time to find any bath mats. What I eventually found was really not my taste, and when I did find something suitable, there was no matching mat for the toilet. I gave up and then went into Homebase, and, again, after some time wandering around the store, I left with absolutely nothing. I drove away and then went into Dunelm, which is close by. Again, a good deal of searching of the store, but, regrettably, absolutely nothing that even vaguely resembled a bath mat. By this point my patience was beginning to expire and, because my mission to purchase these items had produced nothing, I then decided, to return to my flat, to have a look on the Amazon website and, sure enough, there were plenty to choose from.  I eventually found what I thought to be perfect for the job and ordered a set and hopefully, they will be delivered this evening.

It only shows how it is so easy to find what you want on Amazon (other online stores are available.) Such a wide choice. In fact, it can often be extremely difficult to decide on an item when there is so much to choose from. Because I have Amazon Prime, I don't have to pay for post and packaging, and the item will usually be delivered the next day. 

5.00 p.m. The bath mats have been delivered from Amazon. They are a great colour and are exactly what I wanted.

Cleaning The Flat

I've been in the flat since October and I'm gradually getting the place as I want it. It does take quite a while to adjust things so they are more how I like them, such as arranging the furniture to where the most used items in the kitchen are stored. There is a shortage of space, so I will need a new unit in the kitchen. I have to remove the stupid fridge/freezer which let me down when it defrosted a couple of months ago and as a result I had to throw away all the food in it. I will need assistance to take it in the car to the recycling centre in Bleak Hall. I intend buying some sort of unit to replace it which can take the microwave and have space to store kitchen equipment. I have seen the ideal unit on Amazon and will have to order it, but this can't be done until the fridge/freezer is taken out to make room.

When Carol and I lived at Golden Drive, we used a Vileda mop which had a build-in water supply which allowed you to mop and it had a built in spray system, meaning you didn't need to have a bucket of water when you were using it. So, I decided I would get a new one so I could keep the floors clean and sparkling in the flat. I went to look in Sainsbury's the other morning, as I imagine we purchased the original one from there. I was surprised by the price, so didn't buy it immediately from there until I'd done a search on the internet. To my surprise I didn't believe that the price could vary so much from one retail outlet to the other. Full price the thing costs in the region of £30, the lowest price being £14 at Dunelm. I decided to visit Dunelm, which is fairly close to Oldbrook, in the business estate at Winter Hill  Retail Park, in Milton Keynes. I found the Vileda display, which had most of their range of cleaning products, including mops, but not the particular type I wanted. Yesterday (Thursday) I decided to go on the Dunelm website and found you could purchase items and then 'click and collect,' so I did this to buy the  spray mop I wanted, using my Debit card. I was expecting it to be ready for collection in a couple of days, but barely an hour later I had a text message to say it was ready for collection, so I drove to Dunelm to collect it. All this is a rather crazy situation, that you can't pick it up within the store, but can buy it via the website. This would mean, surely, that they had the item I wanted in their warehouse at the store, and not on the store's floor. No doubt this is how retail is going to go. But I noticed they didn't have any staff on the floor of the store, who might have been able to assist me in checking whether the item I wanted was in stock.

(Saturday) I discovered that it was quite cold and frosty when I took Alfie out this morning. Ice on the windows of the car and I will definitely have to find my gloves and hat as the weather forecast is warning me that things are due to get even colder.

On a different matter. I was watching an item about social media on BBC Breakfast yesterday morning (it was about research being done by a university to find out how children use such sites as Facebook and the effects such things as bullying has on their mental health.) As a result I did a Google search (other search engines are available.) and found a list of some and one, called Nextdoor, which sounded as if it might be worth investigating. So I found it on-line and have signed up and find it works very differently to Facebook (which has far too much trivia and pointless stuff on it, including annoying advertising.) Having signed up and particularly the site for Oldbrook, I find a post about the lady I've mentioned in these blog posts who keeps stopping people and cars along Oldbrook Boulevard and asking for money. It would appear that other residents are concerned about her safety and why nothing is being done to deal with this issue.

A good deal later. I have been keeping a track of responses to the post on Nextdoor, regarding this woman who is constantly seen asking for money on Oldbrook Boulevard.  Someone has reported the woman to Milton Keynes Council Safeguarding Department, so perhaps something will be done this time. At least if they report this matter and it's logged, at least there is something in writing (well, one would hope so.) and they can deal with it. One can only hope that is what will happen.