Cold and Frosty!

 Wednesday. 2.20 p.m. There was a slight frost when I took Alfie out at around 7 this morning. I had to clear off a thin layer of ice from the car's windows because I had to take Alfie to The Groom Room to have a trim. We were due there at 11.30 a.m. It was fortunate that I had bought spray for exactly that job.

Saturday. 7.20 a.m. It was a bit of a surprise to discover fog when I went out with Alfie about 20 minutes ago. Also, a crisp frost. Walking on the grass there was a real crackle. Alfie was keen to get back inside to the warmth, but who can blame him?

12.00 p.m. It's sunny but still chilly. I've been to Sainsbury's this morning and it took about 15 minutes to clear the ice off the windscreen and windows. I just cannot drive if I can't see clearly.

In Sainsbury's, the travelator was running, but what was formerly the up one was the down one and the down one was the up one. Goodness knows why. There always seems to be a problem with this technology, as you would have read if you had been following my blog over the years.

Wednesday. 7.55 a.m. It's still mild. That's good. We definitely don't need high winds, rain or snow.

The workmen are still here, digging trenches, making holes and generally getting on with the work in the community garden. It sounds to me as I write this that they are using some sort of drill or machine that makes a loud noise.

Thursday. 7.35 a.m. It's foggy out this morning. It's not thick, but foggy nevertheless.

I have bought an air fryer. I had points to spend, which included Argos, so I looked at their website and had first intended to buy a Ninja one, but after some thought, I decided to go with one where you could see the food cooking inside, so I decided on a Tower one, which utilises halogen as it's heating source. I am gradually getting the hang of how it works, but I keep thinking that it's like a microwave and that you can't put anything metallic in it, but my thinking is wrong, and you can. It will take me a while to get used to it and, as usual, the instruction manual that comes with it is of very little use and it's written in very small and faint print so that makes life difficult. I shall watch YouTube videos and now bought a recipe book on Amazon, so that will help matters, or, at least, I hope so.

Silly Title For A Blog Post!

I can't think of a better name to put in the title of this blog post. And why not? I may think of a better one, but it doesn't really matter.

Wednesday. 10.55 p.m. I was sitting waiting to go out after 9 o'clock this morning and as I waited, the telephone rang and it was the renal unit at Milton Keynes Hospital. My appointment with a consultant there is cancelled. This is a relief to me as it must be due to the consultant there looking at the results of my recent blood test. I was advised by the nice lady I spoke to that I should contact my GP at Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre to discuss where my care will go next. Just a relief that nothing suspicious was discovered.  I then drove to Aldi in Bradwell Common to do a top-up shop. 

I attempted to telephone Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre this afternoon. I could not get through, even after around three attempts. You get through to the appointments line after you get the 'menu of options, but after being held with nothing but a voice telling you which options to select and that you can make your appointment online, I just gave up. Well, I did attempt to make an appointment via the online facility, but for some reason, it has been blocked, so it annoys me that they tell you it is an alternative to the telephone system. I shall just have to have another attempt tomorrow morning.

Thursday. 12.20 p.m. It's a strange sort of day weather-wise. It started out dry and mild, but as I write this the weather has changed for the worse. It's howling a gale outside (just as well not inside!) and I reckon it will rain before the day is over.

At long last, after around half a dozen attempts, I have managed to get through to Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre. I will get a phone call from my doctor on 11th June between 2 and 6 p.m. 

I have bought a food processor. I have spent vouchers I earned from doing online surveys, one of which is something I have been on for around 10 years, where I have to log anything I buy, books, CDs, clothing etc. As you log your items, you earn points and then, when you have enough, you can cash them in for vouchers The site is called Consumer Pulse. The only way you can get involved is to have an invitation, which I did. Over the years I have been able to trade my vouchers in for a Panasonic Freeview box, a Hitachi HD television, a Panasonic microwave oven and several more items. I got most of these items from Argos, and recently I bought myself a new electric kettle, toaster, kitchen knives and more recently the Bosch food processor. I am with other online survey sites, each earning points which can be converted into either cash or vouchers. If Amazon points, it allows me to buy books and virtually anything on their site. I have today ordered a digital kitchen scales which I intend to use to do some baking. I have also done some market research where you chat via Zoom (which is convenient since we were in lockdown at the time.) and earned considerably more than doing the straightforward online surveys. The cash from those has gone into my savings account. I would like more similar surveys.

Later. 2.30 p.m. The post came at around 1.30. I picked it up from the floor after it came through the letterbox. One envelope, with an address window in it. An appointment has been made for me at Milton Keynes Hospital on 21st June. Wait a minute. Didn't I have a telephone call from the hospital to tell me there was no need for the appointment and that it had been cancelled? What is going on here? No wonder the NHS is always in such a financial mess, with this sort of craziness going on. It just seems a waste. A definite case of the left hand not knowing what the right is doing.

Landlord Refuses To Replace Worn-Out Oven

The seemingly endless saga of the worn out oven has had some sort of resolution. It would appear that our cheese-pairing, cheapskate landlord won't replace our/his oven which I have reported on here had given up and caused me some little concern when it exploded (I do exaggerated, but if I say 'popped' it sounds a bit pathetic!) Apparently he won't cough up for a new one because he says it was new around 15 months ago, when the last one died the death. The truth of the matter is, this one was CHEAP, a Bush AE56SW and came from Argos, so don't bother wasting your money on a Bush electric oven from Argos.  Perhaps if he'd spent out a good deal more then the confounded thing MIGHT conceivably have lasted a bit longer. It has worn very poorly, it takes an eternity to warm up, the front panel has paint  that is chipping off (or whatever covering the front is covered in) and the plates are rusting really badly. I think for a relatively new oven it hasn't done very well at all. Please don't bother buying this model as it is not worth the money. I know it's the cheapest oven (or was, I don't think it is in the Argos catalogue any longer, and I can see why if this is the quality.) As we won't expect a replacement from our beloved landlord any day soon, we have decided to wait until the end of the month and buy our own. Considering what happened with the washing machine and the mess that was caused when the landlord got someone who had no idea about plumbing to install it and didn't remove the restraining bolts on the back of the machine (see earlier post.) and the ensuing problems with the plumbing near the sink (we have had a constant drip from the point where the washing machine is plumbed into the water pipe and have had a bucket there to collect the water that drips since then.) I'm not in the least bit surprised by our lack of help with the cooker. The simple fact of the matter is he DOESN'T WANT TO SPEND ANY MONEY on this house! Perhaps the landlord has forgotten the address of this house and don't know the way here. It is, of course, absolutely likely as he hasn't set foot in it for a good while now.

We have managed to do quite well without the oven, surprisingly. We have managed to cook some meals using the microwave as well as the George Foreman grill, and have cooked a couple of meals in the slow cooker, even making Bolognaise sauce in this really useful kitchen gadget. It's really surprising how you can manage when 'push comes to shove.' We've also had several salads so we've eaten relatively healthily, but even so it has caused a certain amount of inconvenience.