7 May 2010

MORE PETTY WITTERINGS.


Not normally too self-indulgent (I hope), you are going to have to excuse me being so today, but after the week I've had and unable to participate in any retail therapy, I feel the need to witter.

First things first. Many thanks for all the messages of concern and support that you have sent to myself and Husband dearest. Home from hospital, he has quite a lot of medication to take and is on a strict no-fibre diet but still, at least, he's home.
And so we go to the on-going saga of The boiler (sound atmospheric music, you know the kind I mean.)
You remember the last time I left you with a constant, but not too alarming, drip, drip, drip. Well!!!!! That drip, drip, drip became more of a .......? Tidal wave is too strong a word - more of a, (shall we say?) waterfall.
Yes, the boiler had burst completely leaving me with water pouring through the ceiling and unable to turn off the water supply. Typical, unable to contact Hd and with all of our neighbours at work, the emergency plumbers advice? Can't you stop someone in the street and get them to turn your water off? Can you believe it? Good advice? - invite any old stranger into your home and hope for the best. I don't think so.
Anyway, aid eventually sought, the water supply is turned off and we await the arrival of a plumber. So far, so good, except, a few hours after he has gone I notice we have heating but no hot water. Great, another visit from a plumber - at this rate we'll be on their Christmas card list.
Plumber number 4 been and gone. Words fail me - it turns out we have had no hot water for the best part of a week and all because plumber number 2 forgot to turn a tap which allowed the water to heat and plumber number 3 didn't spot this. As I say, words fail.
You know they say these things come in threes - the boiler (1), Husband dearest (2), the front door lock? (3). (Please let there be no number 4.)
Yes it 'never rains but it pours'* (in the case of the boiler, literally) - on top of everything else the lock on the front door decides it doesn't want me getting in. Cue, our good friend Jimmy who, as a master carpenter and fantastic joiner, fits me a new lock making the joke that Hd is only out of the house five minutes and I'm already changing the locks. Just as well I still maintain a sense of humour.
Minor catastrophes looked at, what of my other news?
Wishing to see how much self control I had with regard to the buying of books and given the small mountain that is my to be read pile, I decided I wouldn't buy any more books until Christmas.
Ok so it didn't last too long but at only 10p for a hard-back book that had hardly been read who could blame me for buying one (alright then, four)? Then there was the £5 voucher I got for recommending mam to the BOOK PEOPLE. Yes I know the voucher was for £5 and I spent over £20 but the books I ordered were very good value. Then there was the book I won over at SATISFACTION FOR INSATIABLE READERS (thanks GMR) but that really doesn't count as I didn't actually buy that.

Yippee, I won a book thanks to the Blogomania event I was telling you about - and not just any book but one of my choosing. So, having seen this on GMR's blog a few weeks ago and having added it to my wish list, I opted for HECK: WHERE THE BAD KIDS GO by Dale E. Basye. Heck being the story of:-
"WHEN MILTON AND Marlo Fauster die in a marshmallow bear explosion, they get sent straight to Heck, an otherworldly reform school. Milton can understand why his kleptomaniac sister is here, but Milton is - or was - a model citizen. Has a mistake been made? Not according to Bea 'Elsa' Bubb, the Principal of Darkness. She doesn't make mistakes. She personally sees to it that Heck - whether it be home-ec class with Lizzie Borden, ethics with Richard Nixon, or gym with Blackbeard the Pirate - is especially, well, heckish for the Fausters. Will Milton and Marlo find a way to escape? Or are they stuck here for all eternity, or until they turn 18, whichever comes first?" - FANTASTIC FICTION.
* You guessed another of my nana's sayings - A proverbial phrase. The origin is unknown but the phrase itself was known by the early 18th century. For example, this item from a work by John Arbuthnot, 1726: "It cannot rain but it pours; or London strow'd with rarities." according to THE PHRASE FINDER.

16 comments:

Nina said...

I hope everthing goes well with your husband and ofcourse with you too. You got enough books to acompany you for the nights and hopefully someone will come soon to fix that damn boiler! :)

Kissed by an Angel said...

What a rotten week you have had!! Let's hope next week is better!!! you certainly deserved a little something, even if you had decided not to shop for a while!!!
xxxx

Anonymous said...

Hope you husbands ok, talk about a week. Well done on the book win.

Jackie said...

Sounds like you are ready for the weekend, hope that means you can kick back and enjoy some of the books you indulged in and the door, the boiler and the Husband all cooperate! Here is to some better times ahead and in the meantime just remember, life happens...

jackie b central texas

Alexia561 said...

Oh my....at least Husband dearest is home and your sense of humor survived intact! Think you'll enjoy Heck: Where The Bad Kids Go, as it was a cute story. Hugs to you both!

Pam said...

What an awful week. You definitely deserve some retail therapy after all of that.

Dorte H said...

Well, as far as I remember it is a scientific fact that the best way to cope with boiler crises - and other kinds of crises - is to buy some good books! Unless you are a shoe fetichist - in that case you´ll have to buy shoes to stave off disasters :D

Kelly said...

Bless your heart! You've really had a time of it this week!

Here's to a relaxing weekend and a much better next week. Keep us posted on your husband's status, too. Healing thoughts and prayers for him.

Revd. Neal Terry said...

Yes, thank you all for for kind wishes and thoughts during my further brief sojourn with the NHS. 'Tis herself that needs the parayers now as I am not a generous patient and intemperate with my own inc apacity. Still she seems to have learned to cope with that.

serendipity_viv said...

I hope nothing else bad comes your way. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Short Poems said...

I hope everything goes well with you, hopefully next week is better a better week for you ::)

Jennifer McLean said...

Well, thank God for all those soothing books coming your way, (you get to pet the bindings and smell the paper, it'll help sooth, promise) or a girl could go batty. What a set of calamities!
Glad husband is on the mend, and I'm so glad to have you as a friend too, Tracy. :o)
Keep your head above the flood, M'dear.
Best,
Jenn

Jenners said...

With the week you've had, I think you are almost REQUIRED to buy some books for yourself.

Oddyoddyo13 said...

Yikes! What a week! Am hoping its all been semi-fixed(?)

Good luck to you and husband dearest!

Oddyoddyo13 said...

I gave you an award!!

Gina said...

Glad your book arrived safe and sound. Can't wait to see what you think of it! Happy reading.... ^_^