So three weeks ago the local council sent out fliers stating that our road would be resurfaced.
They said work would commence on Thursday, 14th of February and would take 4 to 5 days.
The workmen turned up early on the Thursday morning and began skimming off the old road surface.
They worked quite quickly and, by the time I arrived home that evening, the old surface had been completely removed.
Great, I thought. At this rate the work will be over in a flash!
We haven't seen the road crew since!
They were a no-show on Friday! Rumour has it that they didn't come so as not to interrupt the rubbish collection.
And I didn't expect them to work on a Saturday or Sunday (even though they did when they did the street opposite us).
But where were they on Monday, Tuesday and today (Wednesday)?
Sick of waiting and having a bumpy and gravel-covered street.
Addendum: It's Thursday and they've arrived! There's an abundance of noise, but after at least three hours work (I use the term loosely) nothing seems to have changed.
Thursday, 21 February 2013
Sunday, 17 February 2013
An Update and a Rogue E-Missive
"Don't eat the fish!" I said.
But did they listen?
No they bloody-well didn't!
I've been looking at an empty goldfish bowl for a week now.
I miss Rex and Sylvia!
So ... anyway ... things are moving!
Yes, I know the garage wall moves, if you give it a nudge, but that's not what I meant.
I mean, of course, that in the next few days we are hoping to have our garage roof repaired!
I can almost hear you all a-whoopin' an' a-hollerin' with delight! Believe me, it has been a long time coming. Not the whoopin' and hollerin'; I meant the repairs, although I welcome the whoopin' and hollerin' too.
At first there was the money issue, which was solved by a number of unsolved bank raids across the length and breadth of Wales. Then the weather conspired against us by being, as British weather tends to be, rather unpleasant. Now, the only obstacle is the roofer himself ... we have to wait until the end of the coming week for him to finish a job, then it's our turn.
Other news?
Well the only thing worth mentioning is the fact that I received a rather nasty email and, thinking it was from a relative, I opened it. Within the blinking of an eye Outlook had sent out over thirty emails to people in my contact list. It was only then that I realised that for some reason Norton had de-activated itself (everyone said "I didn't do it!" when I asked them if they'd turned it off).
From what I gather, once opened the reader would be asked to re-enter their email password to confirm something or other. Hopefully no one fell for this and deleted the email without giving out any secrets. To anyone who received one of those nasty little e-missives ... my humble apologies!
It will not happen again ... he said hopefully!
But did they listen?
No they bloody-well didn't!
I've been looking at an empty goldfish bowl for a week now.
I miss Rex and Sylvia!
So ... anyway ... things are moving!
Yes, I know the garage wall moves, if you give it a nudge, but that's not what I meant.
I mean, of course, that in the next few days we are hoping to have our garage roof repaired!
I can almost hear you all a-whoopin' an' a-hollerin' with delight! Believe me, it has been a long time coming. Not the whoopin' and hollerin'; I meant the repairs, although I welcome the whoopin' and hollerin' too.
At first there was the money issue, which was solved by a number of unsolved bank raids across the length and breadth of Wales. Then the weather conspired against us by being, as British weather tends to be, rather unpleasant. Now, the only obstacle is the roofer himself ... we have to wait until the end of the coming week for him to finish a job, then it's our turn.
Other news?
Well the only thing worth mentioning is the fact that I received a rather nasty email and, thinking it was from a relative, I opened it. Within the blinking of an eye Outlook had sent out over thirty emails to people in my contact list. It was only then that I realised that for some reason Norton had de-activated itself (everyone said "I didn't do it!" when I asked them if they'd turned it off).
From what I gather, once opened the reader would be asked to re-enter their email password to confirm something or other. Hopefully no one fell for this and deleted the email without giving out any secrets. To anyone who received one of those nasty little e-missives ... my humble apologies!
It will not happen again ... he said hopefully!
Wednesday, 13 February 2013
Sunday, 10 February 2013
Sinner On a Bus!
I have already explained some months ago that I have a tendency to eavesdrop.
Sometimes it is easier than you would expect.
Sometimes the conversations are shouted across crowded rooms or busy streets.
On this occasion it was shouted across the aisle of the bus.
It went ...
"H'lo Dai! How're you? Haven't seen you for ages."
" 'm'all right Will! Doing well ... doing well! As well as can be expected anyway".
"What's happened then Dai? You're missus caught you womanising again?"
"No, no!" answered Dai. "The wife, see. Taken ill, she was. Rushed into hospital on Christmas Eve ... died Boxing day".
"Oh No!" said Will. "That's awful! I'm so sorry!"
"Oh she went peaceful ... in her sleep ... so she didn't suffer".
"Must have been hard for you" said Will.
"It was, it was. But I believe, you see, like, so I managed to cope because God was with me".
"God got me through something similar" said Will.
"Oh I'm sorry!" said Dai. "Did you lose someone close?"
"No!" came back Will. "I lost my lottery ticket! I had a £150 winnings on it and I lost it, but God got me through it!"
A stunned Dai answered "But that's nothing like the same, like, is it?"
"Near enough" answered Will. "Near enough!"
"Yer a sinner, Will Williams! Yer a sinner!" snapped Dai as he made to get off the bus.
Sometimes it is easier than you would expect.
Sometimes the conversations are shouted across crowded rooms or busy streets.
On this occasion it was shouted across the aisle of the bus.
It went ...
"H'lo Dai! How're you? Haven't seen you for ages."
" 'm'all right Will! Doing well ... doing well! As well as can be expected anyway".
"What's happened then Dai? You're missus caught you womanising again?"
"No, no!" answered Dai. "The wife, see. Taken ill, she was. Rushed into hospital on Christmas Eve ... died Boxing day".
"Oh No!" said Will. "That's awful! I'm so sorry!"
"Oh she went peaceful ... in her sleep ... so she didn't suffer".
"Must have been hard for you" said Will.
"It was, it was. But I believe, you see, like, so I managed to cope because God was with me".
"God got me through something similar" said Will.
"Oh I'm sorry!" said Dai. "Did you lose someone close?"
"No!" came back Will. "I lost my lottery ticket! I had a £150 winnings on it and I lost it, but God got me through it!"
A stunned Dai answered "But that's nothing like the same, like, is it?"
"Near enough" answered Will. "Near enough!"
"Yer a sinner, Will Williams! Yer a sinner!" snapped Dai as he made to get off the bus.
Friday, 8 February 2013
Southern Comfort
Yesterdays outing took me to a Bev's Café in Pontypridd.
I ordered my 'usual' and sat myself at the table by the café's expansive window. As I shuffled myself back and forwards, getting my backside comfortable, a brown leather two-seater sofa floated by the window.
Well, technically it didn't float, it was actually carried by two middle aged men; their faces bright red and betraying their jovial demeanour by quite clearly stating "F*** this is heavy! But I'll be damned if I'm going to ask him if we set it down for a moment".
The bell over the café's door tinkled as I watched the two men and their cargo disappearing down the road and an elderly gentleman entered.
"Ungfff!" he said as he closed the door behind him.
"Ungfff! Ungfff! Ungfff!"
Every step he took was accompanied by an "Ungfff!".
His legs were bowed and bent and he leant heavily on a walking stick.
He ungfff'd his way to the counter and ordered a cup of tea and a full English breakfast, turned, then ungfff'd his way to a table.
He took off his coat but for several minutes he just stood in front of the table.
Ha-ffffffffffft
Ha-ffffffffffft
Ha-ffffffffffft
Ha-ffffffffffft
Ha-ffffffffffft
The strange noise emanating from the old man caused some interest and nearly all of the café's patrons to turn and look.
He then placed a rubber ring onto the chair and ...
"Ungfff!"
... sat down.
There was a squeak followed by a ripple of laughter.
"You've got to look after your piles, isn't it! Got to be having some comfort, see! " he said in a broad valley's accent.
Just then the afore mentioned sofa drifted back in the direction from whence it had previously come.
Raised voices could be heard as the two red faced men, now obviously struggling, plodded past.
"The wrong shop!" said one. "The wrong bloody charity shop! D'you know how far we've carried this damned thing?"
"All right! All right! Don't go on about it, man! We just have to ..."
Their voices trailed off as they rounded the corner.
I ordered my 'usual' and sat myself at the table by the café's expansive window. As I shuffled myself back and forwards, getting my backside comfortable, a brown leather two-seater sofa floated by the window.
Well, technically it didn't float, it was actually carried by two middle aged men; their faces bright red and betraying their jovial demeanour by quite clearly stating "F*** this is heavy! But I'll be damned if I'm going to ask him if we set it down for a moment".
The bell over the café's door tinkled as I watched the two men and their cargo disappearing down the road and an elderly gentleman entered.
"Ungfff!" he said as he closed the door behind him.
"Ungfff! Ungfff! Ungfff!"
Every step he took was accompanied by an "Ungfff!".
His legs were bowed and bent and he leant heavily on a walking stick.
He ungfff'd his way to the counter and ordered a cup of tea and a full English breakfast, turned, then ungfff'd his way to a table.
He took off his coat but for several minutes he just stood in front of the table.
Ha-ffffffffffft
Ha-ffffffffffft
Ha-ffffffffffft
Ha-ffffffffffft
Ha-ffffffffffft
The strange noise emanating from the old man caused some interest and nearly all of the café's patrons to turn and look.
He then placed a rubber ring onto the chair and ...
"Ungfff!"
... sat down.
There was a squeak followed by a ripple of laughter.
"You've got to look after your piles, isn't it! Got to be having some comfort, see! " he said in a broad valley's accent.
Just then the afore mentioned sofa drifted back in the direction from whence it had previously come.
Raised voices could be heard as the two red faced men, now obviously struggling, plodded past.
"The wrong shop!" said one. "The wrong bloody charity shop! D'you know how far we've carried this damned thing?"
"All right! All right! Don't go on about it, man! We just have to ..."
Their voices trailed off as they rounded the corner.
Thursday, 7 February 2013
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
Blogging with the Speed of Light
I remember, as some of you no doubt do too, the days when a PC was a box with a slit in it and a monitor.
Those where the days of 700 odd megabytes of memory and no hard drive.
Days of constant disk swapping and slow processing which, never the less, made us proud because, back then, we were pioneers; we belonged to the few who ventured into new and promising future.
Now, having ditched the antiquated device which once masqueraded as my laptop, I have find myself once again at the cutting edge ... well, almost ... of home computing technology.
Please say hello to my new 2.7 Gigahertz Samsung!
Yes, yes.
I know you can't actually see it, but it is indeed there ... or here ... and performing like a dream.
47 second boot and ... hahahahahahahahaha! Sorry! I get excited! ... and I can access all the sites and do all the things that my old (deceased) laptop would not allow.
Happy?
Damned right I am!
So ... let's play catch, shall we?
Negotiations are underway for it's repair. It's going to be far more expensive that we first thought, but at least we are nearer to the job actually being done.
As for the wall ... we will wait for about six months to allow it to dry thoroughly before having it braced with steel rods.
I haven't mentioned this one yet, but we are getting that done too. Moss removed, guttering cleaned and firmly secured.
Well I have a new one, as I have already mentioned, but it is now mine ... ALL MINE!!!
It's an on-going thing, I'm afraid. I have bought the remaining panels in order to complete the job, but the wind has saved me the trouble of removing the older panels by spreading them evenly (and in small pieces) throughout the neighbourhood.
Oh, there is so much more to tell and, no doubt one day I shall get around to reporting it all in detail.
But for now, I intend to try and find out how Windows 8 can piss me off even further.
It may (if reports from others are to be believed) be very good operating system but for an old DOS man like myself, it's going to be hard work.
Catch you later!
Those where the days of 700 odd megabytes of memory and no hard drive.
Days of constant disk swapping and slow processing which, never the less, made us proud because, back then, we were pioneers; we belonged to the few who ventured into new and promising future.
Now, having ditched the antiquated device which once masqueraded as my laptop, I have find myself once again at the cutting edge ... well, almost ... of home computing technology.
Please say hello to my new 2.7 Gigahertz Samsung!
Yes, yes.
I know you can't actually see it, but it is indeed there ... or here ... and performing like a dream.
47 second boot and ... hahahahahahahahaha! Sorry! I get excited! ... and I can access all the sites and do all the things that my old (deceased) laptop would not allow.
Happy?
Damned right I am!
So ... let's play catch, shall we?
The garage wall and roof:
Negotiations are underway for it's repair. It's going to be far more expensive that we first thought, but at least we are nearer to the job actually being done.
As for the wall ... we will wait for about six months to allow it to dry thoroughly before having it braced with steel rods.
The house roof:
I haven't mentioned this one yet, but we are getting that done too. Moss removed, guttering cleaned and firmly secured.
My car:
Well I have a new one, as I have already mentioned, but it is now mine ... ALL MINE!!!
The fence:
It's an on-going thing, I'm afraid. I have bought the remaining panels in order to complete the job, but the wind has saved me the trouble of removing the older panels by spreading them evenly (and in small pieces) throughout the neighbourhood.
Oh, there is so much more to tell and, no doubt one day I shall get around to reporting it all in detail.
But for now, I intend to try and find out how Windows 8 can piss me off even further.
It may (if reports from others are to be believed) be very good operating system but for an old DOS man like myself, it's going to be hard work.
Catch you later!
Sunday, 3 February 2013
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