Busy, busy

We’re back. And we’ve been up to stuff, and are preparing to do more stuff. So much so, I don’t want to wait until the weekend to update you.

First we’re back into our ‘walk one day, run the next’, including the necessary stop for a coffee sat outsides Greggs watching the world go by. I was pleased yesterday when I pushed out a 20 minute/4.6km run, a benchmark of mine. But we’ve also been doing a lot of niff-naff. C’s back into sorting the house (complaining about the lack of space, more of which in a bit) and baking. I’ve been servicing the bikes, including new rear pads for C’s bike … did I tell you how good they are? Now ten year’s old, I popped into Bristol on Saturday for a check up on my heart. No biggies here, just keeping an eye on potential aneurysms as they run in the family. It takes an easy 40 minutes pedalling to get into the city, and 50 minutes, uphill, to get home. An equivalent car ride, with commensurate CO2 and petrol and parking costs would take 20. So cycling is a sound option, if the weather works.

did I mention how good they are?

I’ve sorted the garden and worked on Doris. There’s some surface rust on the chassis which I have scrubbed and Hammerited. Another small piece of wood on the garage floor which, because of two rusting screws, needed treating. The older, major work, caused by water ingress through the garage doors which I sorted two years ago, has remained perfectly dry and solid. I’m really pleased with that. If I’d asked a professional to do it, it may have looked much better but would probably have set us back over £1000. I have played with the 240v which needed an extra RCB fitted, and put a tilt on the TV bracket. That was needed because with how we sit (in a vegetative state) we’re not looking straight on and don’t get the best picture … blacker than usual. I’ve yet to check it, but I hope ‘the tilt’ makes a difference. And I’ve taken off, cleaned, and replaced the kitchen sink seal. That looks good (hurrah!).

first job …

But that’s been the breezy bit – at least we’ve been static. We’ve got a bit of a diary coming up. Tomorrow is our Jen’s birthday (James the day after) and we’re all off The Wild Place, an offshoot of Bristol Zoo. On Wednesday we’re driving down to Dorset for C’s middle sister’s 70th birthday. We’re meeting up with big sis as well and all going out to lunch. And then on Thursday we’re heading to Suffolk for Phil and Denise’s daughter’s wedding. That’s going to be a fab … and a bit special, on so many levels. We’re going up in Doris and getting round by bike (did I tell you how good they are?), which will be fun and, doubtless, amusing – in a ‘what on earth way?’ – to many. We come back from there on Sunday via mum’s and then I’ve got a lot of work to do on book 8 (now, The Harder They Fall), before we take a bus to London the following weekend to go to an 18th birthday party. We’ve done the ‘bus to London’ before and loved it. It should be no different this time.

still running

And then we’re back for a few days before heading to Mary’s for our 12 day Italy trip, which encompasses another wedding. The last Italian wedding we attended almost did for us. So much food and drink! But … how lucky are we? Anyhow that should sink all of June, coming up for breath in July – when Bex, Steven and Henry return.

C and I have also been re-chatting about where to live. Clearly we can’t take any action before the autumn, especially as we have a likely 6-week trip Saudi Arabia, ‘looking after Henry trip’ planned for late summer (after which a wedding in Ibiza … whatever next?). But then? We are fortunate enough to be able to look at any option, including pushing off to Portugal and getting citizenship … which sounds really good, doesn’t it? Anyhow, we’ve not come to a conclusion. Doubtless it will continue to vex us.

Finally, an internet story. And, no, not a novel; more broadband based. When we moved into the house three and a bit years ago we bought the cheapest broadband we could find – £17.99 a month from Talk Talk. Apparently it’s ‘fast broadband’, but not delivered via fibre. Anyhow, we were told that there would be no increase in price and yet, here we are with a third hike to £25.05 a month. And it’s neither fast, nor reliable. I have complained every time about price increases, and twice about how unreliable it is. But to no avail. Anyhow, this time enough was enough. The long and the short was a long internet ‘chat’ with someone on a far distant continent. At one point I was threatened with bailiffs and a damaged credit score, by which time I was determined that Talk Talk would not longer have our business. In the end we agreed to cancel the contract with a 6-month early cancellation fee of £30. Phew.

look who’s baking

So, what broadband? Well I’ve been toying with a 4G data SIM alternative for a while. A decent Mifi cost £70 and a guaranteed unlimited data contract (one month at a time) is £20 from Smarty. I’ve tested the Mifi with my Tesco SIM and we rewatched No Time To Die a couple of nights ago without a problem. The Smarty SIM arrives in the next couple of days. The advantage is that there is, to all intents and purposes, no contract. When we go to Saudi, for example, we can cancel, and then subsequently reboot. Second, and importantly, we can take the Mifi with us guaranteeing, signal depending, unlimited internet on the move in Doris. No more bulk DVD buys!

I will let you know how it goes.

Anyhow stay safe. So looking forward to going back to lbs and ounces … what are these people playing at? I’m lost for words.