END OF

I am sitting here at my computer waiting for a person, any real person, to actually answer my call with a utility company.

Pandora’s Box

“All Our agents are busy right now. We have to make you aware that there is at least a twenty minutes wait for calls to be answered”  Twenty-seven minutes into my wait…..I am still determined to sit it out, listening unfortunately to where I can find their Apps, where it is so easy to pay everything in one place; being on a phone whilst driving  puts you and other road users at risk.  At this point I am thanked for listening, then immediately on to advertising Smart devices, followed by the etiquette for engaging with the company’s employees…or else! (My interpretation of the latter, just to make sure there’s no confusion).

Ears half switched off, I must have heard all the merry-go-round of the advertising android. Thirty-four minutes wait now.

Nearly lost my Classic Editor. Not sure how I got it back, but

                                                                           it did pop up again in the right place! Forty-two minutes

                                                                           have passed.    That’s it, the end !!! 

PASSING BY

Random thoughts….so random they disappear into nowhere.

Many sights, pictures and events pass by,

my curiosity following them,

Yet, they all disappear into nowhere and so do I.

@M1

Storm Arwen: Roots: Dreaming.

Procrastination has beaten me! I have given in. Having been up to my eyeballs in festive packing, wrapping and posting, and still there’s more to be done,  I am giving me permission to think about something else.

Storm Arwen has passed, the snow has melted and it does feel as if the temperatures are rising again. We were lucky.  As violent as Arwen was, we did not lose any power sources, nor did we have any structural failures. There was plenty of havoc to be seen in Arwen’s wake. The newly erected town Christmas tree was felled, decorations and all.  Metal signposts were perilously leaning out of their deep settings.

Where trees grow, (there are a few places here where they do) the old ones and weakest rooted could not withstand the ferocity of the winds. The one below, in the garden, is an example from a past storm.

I’ve been dreaming of updating my kitchen and I cannot make up my mind whether I would go all electric or keep to my current mix.  We’ve been hearing  of the power losses during the stormy weather. Also about its continuing  effects on people who have been without power in their homes for several days. It takes me back to where I started many years ago. Then, I was regularly experiencing loss of electricity, which firmly put me in the ball park of installing the back-up of another fuel source.  Ours was the only house in the street that did not have to store camping gas kit for a power outage.  We could always keep one room warm. With a young, family keeping warm and being able to heat water and cook something warm, was paramount.

Before You Ask; No I did not.

Shorter days mean that various festivities are approaching. I don’t sense a festive spirit.  Is it too soon?  It is only November 22nd.

This afternoon I tackled a batch of gifts.  By tackling, I really mean sorting who has what and wrapping some of the ‘whats’. There was the usual sticky tape disappearing act only to reappear stuck to something it shouldn’t have been. Oh, and where are those gift labels *sigh*…….hiding behind the roll of paper wrap. I managed a few ‘tuts’; honestly I did keep my sanity and vocal decorum. However, there are more gifts  to wrap. So far, I have used up lots of stored coloured tissue paper. And before you ask,  no, I didn’t iron it.

Throughout the few recent shopping months, (it’s been a truncated retail year after all) I collected a number of handled brown paper bags, ideal for gifts for all sorts of celebrations.  Though I will need something  much larger for a very big jigsaw puzzle.

More, Yet More Complications.

Word Press have kindly sent out an email about 2FA.  If I hadn’t read the email I would be mystified for more than one reason  about this announcement.  2FA is Two Factor Authentication.  Do I hear a mass groan or two. I had to make a major effort to concentrate on the information; my mind can wander off to other subjects- amenable ones-very easily.

I don’t know if I am really any the wiser after the ‘walk through’ on employing the process, or is it processes.  I do understand what the intentions are.  Does it have to be so complicated. Help!  I could get locked out if I don’t keep lists of six OTC’s. (one time codes).

If I use a plug in (?), or an app, or any other doo-da, does it mean my readers have to face hurdles to open  a page on my site? If it were me in that situation, would I bother.  I have a certain amount of patience to resolve issues. I know this from encountering one or two difficulties in the past, but I don’t think they were as potentially awkward as the installation and use of  the suggested WP site 2FA. By comparison block editor could be a breeze and I definitely don’t feel at home with that.

The Jet Pack: It may be tempting if it is easier to whizz off with.

HAPPY DAYS ANCIENT AND MODERN MEET

Our Sunday walk took us to a harbour. It was the most sensible place to head for. Although there was a nor’ easterly wind blowing, suppressing the temperatures a bit, it was very hot. My shorts, tee-shirt and sandals kept me temperate.

Looking at hubs in dark blue cotton trousers, socks and shoes and sporting a short sleeve black tee-shirt announcing he was a Cezanne fan, made me feel uncomfortably hot. He was sure he didn’t want to change into lighter clothes. But then, he wondered why I always had cold hands. If we needed one, (and we didn’t) it was a good excuse for holding hands.

We passed dog walkers, mostly on the grass playing field that led to the wee bridge which crosses the river. You can see the mouth of the harbour where the water flows from it into the North Atlantic sea. The river water was very low, although an ebb tide had started to flow. Boats in the distance were taking advantage of it to return.

The dry stone seat we sat on protected by dry stone walls.

The top of a little grassy bank we climbed brought us to the sea wall on one side and on the other the harbour promontory. We sat in the confines of a dry stone wall with a dry stone seat, the grass was parched. We watched Terns, Seagulls and Oyster Catchers, wheel round overhead. At ground level couple of cyclists came into view, taking selfies of themselves to record ‘We were here’ by a signpost.

Harbour mouth and signpost – ancient and modern meet

The beach was calling. We left our dry stone perch and joined a number of other people walking on the sand. Groups of children were playing at the water’s edge. There was lots of evidence of sand castle building. One little girl, aided by her grandad, was busy making little fortresses along a wide stretch. It was idyllic.

Having fun on the beach on a different Sunday.

Don’t panic…….DON’T PANIC!

It was a medium-sized company, well thought of and with a good customer service rating.  Out of the blue on the afternoon of the 27th January 2021, it became difficult to give a fuel reading. It was most peculiar. after three attempts I decided to try and upload the figures a bit later, which I successfully did.

on the 28th January, 2021, I received a message from The Money Savings Expert site, (through which I had signed up for my domestic fuel with The Green Network Energy Company-GNE) advising me and many thousands of other customers that GNE had unexpectedly gone out of business the day before. The general message was, ‘don’t panic….don’t panic’. I have experienced failed companies before but GNE was nothing like last diabolical experience I had.  If I needed to communicate, and it wasn’t often, I could talk to someone, or get a timely, sensible reply by email. I felt genuinely sorry for the pleasant and helpful staff as well as for the company.

All GNE customers have been placed by the Fuel Industry Regulator with EDF about whom I know little apart from the name. There’s no panic on my part; I have had minimal contact from EDF, just two emails saying (paraphrasing)…we’ll get round to you in due course. Yesterday, 30th May- four months later – they did, asking me to sign up to their online portal. We’ll see how it goes. Will my last reading from the 27th January this year have been passed on? I hope so.  For good measure, I’ve got a reading for the 28th January, too. There’s also a credit to set against the last quarter and a bill for the time I have been in limbo.  I think folks, this is where it all starts getting interesting.

Nelson’s Monument -Calton Hill, Edinburgh. This is where the ball falls in time with the daily firing of one o’clock gun.

Pretty Lace Things

What to write? I am racking my brains, searching for inspiration …..oh dear; what to write?

These months of mandated lock down have switched off my words. Speaking to people on the phone; we are so obviously searching for something, anything, to say. “I haven’t any news…..neither have I”.…passes ten minutes of nothingness ping pong.

I remember a bit of inconsequential gossip about someone’s new house….another five minutes wafts away. “ It comes to something, [apropos nothing] when we have to talk about other people’s news…… she says.

“With all the shops shut we can’t buy any nice little pretty things, have you bought anything pretty?“ she asks. I could say no, but I don’t. I use the old technique of repeating the question while I swiftly gather my thoughts.

“Well, ahm, ah, yes I have. I needed to replace some underwear”. How much should I reveal. In for a penny, in for a pound, as they say. Deep breath, here goes; “I knew what I wanted, and I knew where to get them so I ordered on line. They’re the same pretty lacy design as the old ones, but different colours“.

Hearty laughter at the other end of the phone. “You’ve made my day, “ and the phone call ends.

So What Did You Do?

For the first time we had a ‘gorge fest’ on catch up television.  There’s only so many times you can tolerate regular programme repeats.

Series one and two of  the surreal Life On Mars. Anyone not in the know, it’s about a rogue  police detective team set in the 1970’s, alive with prejudices, misogynism of the time and anarchic crookedness. Behaviours of the Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) and some of his sidekicks are purposely set to be on the extremely awful trajectory.

A Claggy Mire

There are gentle moments amongst the raw, especially with the weird arrival of the Detective Inspector, (DI) with his frustrated attempts at introducing ethical working practices. The D.I regularly goes off on another plane, time travelling, confusing his workmates and himself.

Hubs became interested in Line Of Duty, (LOD) with my encouragement. I got hooked on Jed Mercurio’s dramas when I saw series five about two years ago.  So far, we have caught up with series three and I’ve started series four.  Because of long gaps between series five and six, I feel I have to check up on where the story line ended in five, especially since I have started watching the latest series as well. Some days you need a bit of exciting entertainment to look forward to.

Bog Pool Plant

JUST THE MEREST HINT

We are still working our way through delightful gifts of home made jams and cakes. To curb waistline expansion, the cakes that can be, are frozen and inedible….for now. A couple of others are in air-tight cake tins way out of arms reach. So far, the tradesmen who worked at our place during the coldest part of this winter have benefitted from packets of biscuits we were gifted in hampers, with the addition of extra biscuits I bought to pile high on the daily plate. The work team wouldn’t accept a top up of their flasks, or just hot water. Tell you what though, not a single biscuit was returned!

The guy building a dry stone wall is Pescatarian. He has taking a liking to home made blackcurrant jam piled on the oatcakes I give him, which are suitable for vegetarians. Our Crumbles biscuits were also suitable for him. After checking I understood what ‘suitable for vegans’ and suitable for vegetarians’ meant, he accepted those biscuits too. He complained there was nothing in the shops that hadn’t been ‘interfered’ with making it difficult for him. He drove his wife mad with his vegetarianism, so now he does the shopping and prepares the main meal of the day for both of them. Next week I intend to introduce him to big water biscuits 🙂 and in case he hasn’t thought about it, I may suggest he looks at some of the frozen vegan products in the stores. There was the merest hint that the wall builder was fed up with just eating vegetables!

• 

  YUM!