Loft space

We went up in my parents loft to store away the bedding from the caravan for the winter. Up there we found:

• Some pans (prpbably mine)
• A duvet
• An Ironing board
• A vaccum cleaner (not mine, but mine was fire damaged)

So I’ve got a head start with all this furnishing.

The agency have moved offices to their main office in Skipton, so there may be a slight delay in sorting the contract out. It didn’t take this long in Cambrigde.

News from overseas

The news of the boost to Kerry’s campaign provided by the evidence that looted explosives were there when the US army look control had me giggling more than it should.

Whereas the news of Osama Bin Laden’s video message to the USA had me going “Oh no that’s all we need.”

I hope that US voters are sophisticated enough that not letting Bin Laden affect theri democracy, means that the message should have zero effect either way. This means that they should equally not vote for Kerry because of the threats, but that they should not vote for Bush in direct defiance of the message.

E-Mail

Panic over, after three calls to BT, managed to restore the old account as pay as you go.

The things people say

Amusing things tourists ask or get asked.

Update

Well, it seems like good news. The agency got back to me and said that they had put the applications to the landlord who was looking like choosing mine. This morning I got a call from one of my referees saying they had received a letter asking for a reference, so it looks like everything is going ahead and I shall have somewhere to live soon.

I’m quite pleased as well as a little bit excited at having a place of my own. Friends and family have been very kind, some have offered furniture, others seem to be sharing my enthusiasm. It’s going to be expensive for a bit, but fun I hope.

Name that book

Anders Hanson highlights some quotes from a book that might just go on my to-be-read pile. As one or two readers here may have read it, I thought I’d set a little quiz.

“Political correctness is what right-wing bigots call what everybody else calls Being polite, or what everybody else calls Not being a right-wing bigot…I would never seek to deny that a few stupid people can take a perfectly good idea too far, but I stand by my contention that political correctness is more sinned against than sinning.”

Standard competition rules plus anyone who’s recently read the quote on Anders’ site is excluded.

Still living.

Not much to report… spent the weekend at home at my parents, while they were off at the caravan, didn’t get a good night of sleep Monday, so went to bed early last night and watched Room 101 before trying to go to sleep.

No news on the house, hoping this means that everything is going ahead and that I would have heard if someone else had got it.

Looking at my stats came the dawning realization that the reason I get so many hits for “Pumpkin recipes” was because I’d used a common misspelling of recipes. I’ve fixed my spelling now, as well as correcting the spelling of Atonement in the sidebar- my blog was in the top three for the misspelling of that book.

The application is in with the letting agents so in the next few days, fingers crossed I should be returning to next week to pay the deposit and arrange a date to pick up the keys to my new home. Just a little nervous about whether I’m going to get it or miss out to someone else, but hopefully soon I should be getting on with my life.

Called in to Nicola’s on Wednesday to pick up some things up. Could only call in on the way to Explorers, so she wasn’t there as she was at guides. It took a little longer that I expected and was a difficult experience- to say more would not be appropriate. Put the key through the letterbox once I’d locked up so that chapter is more or less over.

Went back to Explorers on Wednesday, but things were a little awqauard. They havn’t been communicating with me, however this is probably my fault as I seem to have accidentally unsubscribed myself from the email list. However I would like a little more respect as the person who set the whole thing up, and for the fact that I still may have some of the answers.

I’ve also started a new blogging project. I’m not going to say too much about it, because I’d rather my name not be linked with it as it is with this blog. That’s because there is a political (but not party political) element, and also because it’s a bit lightweight and childish. But it amuses me for now, and I hope will amuse others.

I worked late last night as I was having trouble getting somthing to work in lab conditions. Yes that’s a problem engineers have as well as scientists. My boss has a big idea about streamlining part of the testing process, and the work to Any way just as I got it to work, the cleaners told me they wanted to lock up, and I had to go. Just as well as it was getting late.

On the way home I listened to Radio 4. This was not a good time to listen as there was a documentary about care homes in Germany, which made me feel a little depressed.

I am, it has to be said, a sensitive person. I got this idea into my head on my way back that some people might have the wrong idea of my part in … recent events. Having been hurt is bad enough without people thinking I was a contributing factor.

Dialect

Just come back from the canteen where I’ve been eating my lunch. One of the admin people came in to speak to the MD who was having her lunch at the same time. It seems that they wanted to invite the MD on a company girls night out. Part way through the conversation the office girl mentioned that so-and-so wanted to pull. Which caused slight consternation as our MD is American, and apparently didn’t understand the term. After a struggle I was asked if I could help explain, which I couldn’t as I could only think of terms that were either slang, worse than pull, or both.

Well… it is later now.

It was a good weekend. The main product will probably be a workbook to make the Scout Forrester’s badge easier to administer, along with some nature activities for Cubs, Beavers and Brownies. I don’t think I had much to contribute, but a weekend spent with friends is usually a positive experience.

Today visited a property, which I am now looking to rent. Only problem is it was very nice and two other parties were there to see it. So I have filled the application form in and will be camped on the doorstep of the letting agents first thing tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed I should be moving in soon.

When I arrived home Anna and Emily were visiting us. “Simon” yelled Emily as I entered the front room. I was immediately required to sit down and read.

Later I asked Emily what she’d had for tea, and was told chicken, I then asked her what noise chickens make, which Anna told me was a terrible faux pas. I’ll have to be more careful as my niece gets older, but perhaps with an Uncle like me she won’t grow up to be a faddy eater.