Monday 1
A stitch in time saves nine, right? And yet, we never do; which is why my Leeds Trinity University hessian bag has two large-ish holes along the middle on either side. Folding it in half while walking gave it a crease, which turned into a tear. Then some bananas forced their way out the side (I use it for my shopping). I ought to have cut up some plastic and stuck it along the whole of each side to strengthen it, but didn’t. Now it’s going to need a more hefty repair.
Then there’s my spare, at-home jeans. They tore so I bought a new pair for when I’m out of the house. Then we had one of our annoying faux fire alarms, I stuck my foot into them, missed the leg hole and ripped the hole in them even larger. What I should have done was immediately do some minor repair; instead I ignored it, and now my arse hangs out of the back as the hole has enlarged.
Then again, thanks to Debenhams closing I managed to buy a new pair anyway. So now I have one black and two blue pairs of jeans, plus the ripped set.
Friday 5
To my surprise I bought a new laptop last weekend. My beloved Asus Zenbook UX305F is almost six years old, and was underpowered even then (it’s a fanless ultrabook). Buying something new (apparently) on eBay was the plan for when I got a job but there was a bargain to be had so I took it.
Yesterday, today and tomorrow will be dedicated to trying to set it up properly. This is Windows 10, something is bound to go not quite right.
Now I need to offset the cost by selling the old one, and one of the Samsung external drives I used to back up and store old data (and my music and photos), since the new laptop has four times the disk space. Might sell my iPod as well, it’s on its last legs and I can’t fit all of my music on there. It doesn’t like the BBC Sounds app either, so I’ve been using my iPad Mini. Also means I can cut down on some boxes and cables…
Sunday 7
Life on the riverbank… the swans are back, checking out their old nesting spot. Two sets of ducks are also out on the river. Spring is almost sprung, which explains why with each pair of swans, one is chasing after the other. Do they have to engage in that sort of behaviour when I’m looking out of the window? Mind you, the swans last year were worse.
Saturday 13
So: Thursday spent taking and resizing photos of things to go on eBay. Yesterday spent setting up auctions and suchlike, giving me a week to pack everything up ready for posting. Right?
No! Someone paid the Buy It Now price for my Samsung T5 1Tb external drive, so that hurriedly went into the post this morning. Then this evening someone made an offer for the iPod, case and spare battery. I’d have taken what they offered had I not increased the Buy It Now price when setting up the auction, so squeezed a further £4 out of them.
Now I’ve found a way of bagging it for posting, time to get the laptop on there. Sunday’s task.
Monday 15
Fun trip to the dentist. I was supposed to go on 30 March last year, but obviously that was scrubbed, as was the rescheduled date in August. While I was very happy to have fixed a date after 18 months – good oral hygiene and all that – a small hole has developed in the filling in my Upper Left Seven. That means it’ll need digging out and re-filling before it collapses, painfully.
Thanks to the extra hygiene needed around fillings in particular, the next available slot for me is… Thursday 1 July. I shall be chewing very carefully for the next 15 weeks.
Friday 19
Hold the phone – I can get in to see the dentist on 5 May!
While confirming the appointment (I was out on the street with no access to my diary) I was trying to remember why that date rang a bell, apart from it being my parents’ 59th wedding anniversary (if they were still alive).
As soon as I hung up I remembered: that’s the last day of my 12 weeks since my first Covid-19 vaccine jab. Wonder if I can combine the two events (and save myself some bus fare)?
Sunday 21
Slightly worried that some people had forgotten my birthday yesterday; then realised that Facebook hadn’t notified me that people had written on my Wall (as they do every year), only that other Friends had liked their posts.
For a man who doesn’t like Facebook it did upset me a little until I realised. Which is another reason not to like Facebook, really.
Thursday 25
A job interview! In person! In… Wakefield. Hello? I’m on a train!
I make it one year and nine days since I last caught a train. Leeds introduced a new one-way system during the Great Kerfuffle but has now abandoned it. Unfortunately, the markings are still on the concourse and platform as you enter… so I followed the line instead of following other passengers up the escalator. That added 5 minutes to my walking time around the station.
And then I ended up walking between Wakefield Westgate and Pinderfields Hospital because it was easier than finding the correct bus. And then I went for a long walk along the canal bank with Charmaine in the afternoon. My iPhone makes that 18,379 steps, or 11.7km. Most days at home I do the 370 steps bit.
Wednesday 31
I’d planned on making a cemetery trip sometime around Easter, which I did this morning. That allowed me to buy a day ticket instead of singles, as I was due to make another trip in the afternoon… for my second vaccination jab. That’s only seven weeks after the first. Emma only had her first jab on the 20th. Pam only had her first on the 27th. Charmaine, being in her mid-forties, isn’t speaking to me.
And in the middle of both trips, a job interview. First time with this laptop, with a minor issue whereby the brightness level varies dramatically if I move my head a bit. As for the outcome… you’ll just have to wait until next month.