Sunday 27 May 2012

Was It Really Just Another Day?

It's been an odd day. Sunday is usually quiet, and so it was today. I am still decorating the inside of the showman's wagon, which in itself seems an odd thing to do when the weather is so nice.

Today in total I have spoken, albeit very briefly, to maybe seven people. Friends Mark and Tovey, stopped by. But they were on their way somewhere else and used my place as a short cut to their destination. They were walking over the fields from the village. Tovey is going to make me some curtains and took the opportunity to do some measuring of my windows. And then they were gone.

I had to unblock the basin in Tricia's bathroom. I thought it would clear with the plunger, but it wouldn't. So I took off the trap. That was clear, so finally I ended up dismantling the wastepipe entirely. Still it wouldn't clear, so I used caustic soda. Which finally, with the aid of more plunging cleared the blockage. Not however before I had accidentally inhaled a lungful of the boiling caustic. Nasty!

When Paul glossaryking.blogspot.co.uk was here last Wednesday/Thursday I remarked on the strong smell of wild garlic pervading the air. Well it wasn't the smell of wild garlic, it was the smell of propane gas escaping. I only found that out today when I went to turn on my cooker and there was nothing. The gas pipe had split and all the gas had gone! It was a brand new tank of gas too. Flipping expensive way to pollute the environment.

Luckily the place where I get my hens feed, supply propane, and are open on a Sunday. Mind you it was pretty obvious that the young girl who served me would far rather be somewhere else on this fine day. I can't say I blame her either, but please love, make a bit of an effort. The youngster who got the gas for me was a bit more talkative, but only to complain about the heat! We are a grumpy lot us British sometimes.

Next I had to stop for fuel. "Do you have a loyalty card Sir?" This was another person who would obviously rather be somewhere else. Don't ask me how I know, but it may have been her miserable face. Which if she could be bothered to raise a smile, would have been quite attractive.
"No."
"Would you like one?"
Here I attempted to raise a smile from her, "No thank you, but I always get my fuel here, so I am loyal."
"Oh my word," she said sarcastically, "A loyal man. What a rarity."
This response put my back up. "Don't start that nonsense," I said, injecting a somewhat unintended venom into my words. Her face fell even more, and I have to confess to a degree of satisfaction at this. Well, serves her right.

Next person I saw was my neighbour Steve who was working in the vegetable plot. I asked his advice about backing up my computer. I had just read Lea's blog livinglifenowinkiwiland.blogspot.com in which she spoke about her computer crashing. Steve advised a memory stick, which I shall buy tomorrow, and he will sort things out for me.

I saw my other neighbours John and Yola. But just stopped by to say hello. John was barbecuing, and invited me to share, but I declined. Sometimes I worry that I might be too much of a scrounger. Or maybe I wasn't in much of a socialising mood today. Anyway I came back and now that I had propane I could cook, and made myself bacon and eggs and tomatoes. Very nice too it was.

Extremely handsome son George is at his friends house and Tricia has gone to see her Mother in London. I feel kind of down today. Inexplicable, considering how all is well with my world right now.

Maybe the fact that I have had the radio on whilst decorating has depressed me. I was listening to radio 4 mostly. All full of gloomy news. Yes I could have changed to a music channel but wasn't in the mood for music either. What a grumpy old misery guts I really am. Hopefully I shall be more cheerful tomorrow. Might even write more about Paul's visit.

Thanks for listening. I do so much appreciate you being there.

13 comments:

  1. Don't feel so bad John, I'm having a rather "bitchy" day myself!

    It started this morning when I realized my fat ass won't fit into last years swimsuit! :O
    To make matters worse I went shopping for a new one only to find myself looking like an over stuffed sausage in everything I tried on... I'm pretty sure everyone in the store heard me cussing myself out!

    Hope you feel better soon! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. You need a holiday...spare room and bed here.
    Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have days like that where I don't feel very sociable. One of my pet peeves is grumpy sales clerks and cashiers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree with Ann. I want anyone whose living depends on me buying their product or making use of their services to appreciate that I chose them. I don't expect a parade but a little friendly courtesy is a must. I do not return to people who treat me as if I am a bother.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You remind me that I have to check my propane. I'd hate for it to run out.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for joining my blog John. Put it all down to the heat - I would - and we Brits like to blame the weather for most things. Look forward to seeing pics of that showman's van.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You sure have had an eventful day, John! Look forward to the next instalment on my visit. Can't access my photos at the moment so using the video link of Love's Song...hope you don't mind. How is Hold Me down loading or is it up loading?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sheeeeeeeesh! Only rain might complete your day. There's always tomorrow...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Some days are just like that John, without explanation. Just go with it, get on with your business and things will be back to normal soon. Besides, we grumpy ones can't be cheerful all the time ;-)

    I've also learned the art of backing up my computer. Make sure you get a memory stick large enough. My first one was too small so had to buy an 8 gig. If you have a lot of pictures, you may even want to go bigger. Whoo Hoo, go bigger John, hahaha.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yeah, I agree that some days are just like that. I felt like that 2 days ago. I'd like to say I know what the answer is, but I don't. Except that suddenly things change and seem okay again.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Some days staying in bed might be the best thing to do.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Can't stand bad service. Good that you are looking at your options to back up your important things on your computer.

    ReplyDelete
  13. You are an artist. There are days like that no matter what.

    ReplyDelete