Monthly Archives: October 2001

Um… Not sure what this is… Looks a bit like a crab?

A one day weekend… hrumph.

Mind you I did manage to get a lot crammed in on the Sunday. Played with Jack on the Internet & found Spot the Dog in the morning. Louise, Jack & Eve went off to a birthday party in the afternoon & I got on with painting a wall in our/to be their bedroom. I managed the whole wall, although I had my doubts when I was still doing fiddly bits (around the window, behind the radiator with three-quarters of an hour to go. Paint turned out to be too smelly in the room itself, but generally not too bad. The paint was not fully dry, I guess – so Louise & I had to sleep on the sofa bed downstairs. It took me a while to figure out how to get comfortable enough to get to drifting off. Jack was possibly bemused in the night to find an empty bedroom. May go through the whole thing again tonight – as I might try to paint another wall as well.

Getting home late on Saturday was weird. I don’t think I’ve ever been that late home. I guess it doesn’t help when the planned train is cancelled, but that was only a matter of half an hour. Louise & the kids had a good day, by reports. They met Louise’s mum & her sister (Louise’s aunt) in Hebden & had a good pottering day. Louise says that she was not going to let anything worry her & managed it. The kids were delightful, holding Alice’s hand & so on. Charming & loving. They had a good time at the party on Saturday as well. Louise says that Eve was especially extrovert. They all played pass the parcel & suchlike. We came home whistles blaring & still with the excitement of party in the kids. They were a little boisterous & tired: wanting the cake & chocolate left in their party bags. Got a little frayed & made a bit of a mess. We opted for an early bath for them & Jack was asleep before the 2nd Roger Hargreeves Timbuctoo book was properly started. Mind you, so was I.

On the way to work… sigh.

Didn’t want to leave this morning, wanted to stay with the family… but c’est la.

Got a letter from the ‘useless plumbers‘
demanding payment for the callout that they attended late & did nothing even
tho they knew what the problem was as we told then’ again. Makes me indignant
(flambé), but it looks like we may have to pay the useless prannets. We
were not on the ball enough to take the initiative – which makes it all the more
galling. Bah.
It has been abnormally warm for the past couple of days. Been fun playing out with the kids on an evening. We were out as the sun descended yesterday & Jack & I watched stars emerging. We also say bats… Most I’ve ever seen of them. May have been just the one, as we only saw the one at a time, but it flew around a sodium street light & then flitted to one further down the backstreet. Quite exciting! I have only ever seen them flit past the window before, so sustained watching was real novelty. Could also just about hear it – a very high pitched chirrup. I suspect Jack could hear them better – but it’s pleasing to note I haven’t blasted by ears listening to loud music.

Grr – that useless plumber letter still wrangles.

hmm

Dear useless fuckwits

Thank you for your letter dated 12/10/01 regarding our non-payment of scandalously charges. We feel that such a fee is inconsistent with the services provided. As we pointed out in our previous letter dated (look up the date) we had informed you of what we perceived to problem to be & your operative still did not have the wherewithal to turn up with any parts that may be useful to correct the problem. In fact he did not turn up with much wherewithal at all; possibly still being drunk from the previous night (complaining of a hangover). He proceeded to take a dim view of everything & sawed through floorboards to get to the source of the problem, possibly due to the fact he could not think of how to lift them without causing damage. He seemed moderately surprised of the problem, even though it was what we suspected on his arrival. He informed us he had no parts for the job even though we had informed yourselves what we suspected the problem was on our initial calls & possibly to the operative himself when, after stating in all day waiting for him he called us late afternoon to inform us that he could attend possibly at 21:00 hrs – when our young children would actually be asleep. His general unpreparedness & reluctance to deal with the problem in general left us with no confidence in your services & left us with no alternative but to go without water until out usual plumber returned from holiday.

Your incompetence put us at inconvenience, which is our general grievance in your insistence that we pay. The amount you suggest is also outrageous, but as we understand that you would take remedial action & charge us even more should we decline, against our better judgement — here’s the dosh you money grabbing bastards.

Yours, with the fondest wishes that you fall of the face of the Earth,

Paul

Wankers.

Hurumph – failed to get an old LJIIIp working with my mac last night … In fact failed so badly that I had to mess about disabling extensions & resorting to Norton System Tools to check things over…. bah! What a pain that was! What a waste of time! A little jaded because of this foolishness. Hey ho -these things are sent to try us.

Would still like to try to get the durn thing running, if for novelty factor alone!

Played out on the backstreet with the kids yesterday afternoon/evening. It was fun & I’m aware that such times may be more limited as the year closes in now. Got all hot & bothered pushing them up on their trucks & trikes only to have them race down again as the weather abnormally warm for the time of year Eve got a hold of a proper skateboard at one point & was surfing down the incline (eep!). She surfed down on her tummy & had a reasonable amount or control, when it came to it, but that does not stop you fretting. She also had a go at standing on it as she saw that I did & Niall (another neighbour’s lad practising with his own board) did. Fortunately she was not facing downhill when she tried that, & was this safe… Not sure if she moved, but she could balance without any problems. Whether she would have enough weight to actually turn it is another matter. You sometimes forget she is not even 2 yet… Soon though – soon.

I painting some of the recent wallpapering with a matt varnish the other night. Stunk a bit during the night, but not so bad. The result on the wall is not so bad either. Not darkened the paper that much. I have realised that this is not the solution for the walls with the polystyrene backing/insulation as it’s likely to mess this up considerably… So, Louise found a very nice shade of green in a paint catalogue (pistachio something) I will see if I have enough brains left from a day at work to pop & get a tin before coming home. Would be useful to get it so that I at least have the option of painting on Sunday. Saturday – tomorrow, is the dreaded 1st Sat shift that I have to now do: 1 Saturday in 3, but then I do have to make up at least some of the hours that I lose on this new system where I get home earlier.

My toes hurt in my new shoes.

My brain is cabbage after a day at work.

Well – I finished off the wallpapering in the bedroom the other day. As it was just a bit above the door, It was a bit ‘is that it?’ – an anticlimax. I now have to varnish the paper. Joy. Still, that should not take too long, &then it’s protected. I guess we now have to plan an expedition to Ikea to get the kids new beds.

Jack takes a keen interest in Louise’s tum (growing babe). He likes to listen to it, & feel the baby kick. The other night Louise woke up & Jack had fallen asleep on her tum. Whether he’d moved in the night or what it’s difficult to tell, but it’s right sweet.

I’ve been trying to ensure I get to bed early. Well, when I say early, it essentially means, not late. But I have been falling behind on getting what I want sorted done. ZUM! is progressing annoyingly slowly again & My own reviews have slipped again. I am not meeting my exacting demands… thankfully I don’t work for me, or I might get annoyed with me. I remain frustratingly nearly focussed.

We went to a ‘parent’s evening’ at school last night. The 1st of many in this parental duty thing I guess. Jack’s teacher seems overall pleased with him. There were a few interesting insights. It seems he is more serious than we thought he might be. Studious. He was also not that keen at playtimes to start with. They were in the same playground as the rest of the school, & he must have found it intimidating. He would stay near the adult helper/teacher. It’s reported that he is now seen less near the adult, so must be getting used to this. It seems a little odd, as he is such a social creature, but then a playground full of screaming kids intimidates me. Also got an insight into the structure of their learning at this stage, which was interesting. He understands to look at the whole word when reading a word, that sort of thing… so I guess you could say he is doing well. Nothing ill to report at all, really. Louise & I were relieved that the teacher was not strict with us.

Stormy night. The wind was raging & the rain thrashing. The river in town was the highest I’ve seen it… it’s normally at 3, but it’s now 15… but I’ve no idea what the measurement is. It certainly looks dangerously fast.

Bit tired, as for one reason or another I did not get the best night’s sleep. However, I do not feel fatigue tired as I have been of recent.

America (& its British lap dog) started ‘the offensive’ on Afghanistan last night… sigh. Well, I guess it was inevitable, but it does not make it less palatable. Ended up watching a Panorama documentary last night, that seemed to end up vilifying the Taliban leadership & nearer claiming that Bin Laden bank roles their government & engineers the leadership. A bogeyman, it seems, with a pathological hatred of the Western world… If that is the case how has he come to be that way? What, in his upbringing & philosophy has brought this into such a focus? All that the documentary felt like it ended up being a justification for wiping the Taliban off the face of the Earth. They are a foolishly repressive regime, & in some way’s, like the Khmer Rouge, want to rewrite history in a nation for their own ends. The way it was all presented made me sceptical for a more balanced argument though. A balanced argument at the moment seems out of the question. The part of the documentary I wholeheartedly agreed with was that, if Afghanistan is left without assistance, after whatever means are met by this blasting then it will only create more trouble later. It needs help to establish the stability & order that the Taliban claimed they would bring when they came to power. The people there have suffered war & deprivation beyond many western minds imagination.

sigh…

I wonder what it’s like to be American & have such wholesome righteous indignation to cover any doubts & worries.

Still not finished the wallpapering in the bedroom! Well, I have but all except a little patch above the door. It’s delightful to have got thus far. Now I need to put the clear varnish on to finish it all off. I have been distracted by fatigue & silly things; like my printer running out of ink & how to get my mac to record analogue input so that it can be converted to Mp3. I’ve sorted the latter – a little app called “Coaster” helps, but I need to use something better than a dodgy old Walkman with a bad connection on the right hand channel before I can record with any quality. That will have to wait until the attic is sorted & the mac & stereo are closer together.

What have the kids been doing? I feel I should talk about them, but I have trouble thinking of details & anecdotes. They play well together, they are loving & sweet.

Brain is focussed on stomach again, which this morning is feeling gripey. Bah. Feel run down a bit; too many things to do & wanting to try to cram too much into the day. Mornings (writing on the morning train) are not the best time of the day for me at the moment.

Bah

Louise hosted an ‘NCT’ meeting at our house yesterday. It’s not an official ‘National Childbirth Trust’ meet, more a group of mothers, but still… It went well to all accounts. Eve was not phased by all these people descending on the house, & there were a lot of babies, to which she exclaimed “‘Nother Baby!”

Another Eve saying at the moment is “Parpy bottom” (A self-descriptive term).

New hours started at work yesterday. It didn’t really occur to me going in yesterday morning, as the start time is the same… However, we finish earlier.

It was a bit odd… it felt like I was sneaking off early, which I guess I was (DUH!). Getting home early is distinctly pleasant. I like that a lot. Eve was asleep when I got back & it was time to wake her, as we needed to get off to pick up Jack from school. She was lying on the bed, so I lay in front of her, so she could see me when she stirred. We had prepared the way for a wake up of a grumpy girl, but it was not needed. Louise woke her by putting her boots on, she saw me, & smiled, & I smiled back. I think she was glad to see me as she had a very good wake up & was exceptionally cheery. I carried her down to Jack’s school & she just kept smiling & exclaiming her delight at the world in general. Ah, the sort of thing that really cheers the heart.

Jack was glad to see me as well. A bit of a surprise. Took advantage of me & got a ride on my shoulders home. Eve demanded a ride on Louise’s shoulders for a little while as well. Human transport. The television did not go on at home. Jack has got into the habit of flopping in front of it a bit when he gets home from school. Not something that Louise approves of; just tolerates, I might add. Another habit broke.

Of course this is just the one-day, so it remains to be seen how it will all span out. I am hoping that it will prove a useful chance to get the decorating sorted as well. Not much papering remains, then varnishing the paper & it’s ‘all change’.

Another morning on the train where I sit in front of the eMate & say… “Grunt”.

It’s not like I was late to bed. We went to bed early last night, but that does not stop you feeling like my brain has been replaced by mucus.

Anyway, yes, it was a good weekend. Caroline hopefully had a good time. We pottered about a bit. On Friday, after watching Jack do his sponsored run they went off to Hebden Bridge. The run sounded delightfully chaotic. The children were supposed to be running the one way around the pitch, but ended up that some groups ran one way, & others counter. I don’t know what the goal was, but Jack ended up doing 5 or 6 rounds. It’s a good job we put the relatives (who are unaware sponsors) down for ‘fixed amounts’ or we might have been out of pocket there. One of Jack’s friends was going in a ‘counter’ group, so they apparently stopped for a chat once or twice. Also, he had a friend from his class running with him, who was flagging a bit. Jack is a good runner.

Saturday we all went of to Howarth. Over the tops on the bus, top deck to see the views better. Went past the church & there’s some ‘allotments’ there where people keep chickens & goats, so the Jack & Eve enjoyed that. Up onto the start of the moors, just for a mini-walk. We did have the pushchair, so anything really adventurous way out of the question. Eve needed picking up when some horses went by on a nearby path. Like dogs, she is braver when they are not so close.

We had hoped we might catch a steam train from Howarth, but we missed one… Shame, as the kids… well, Jack especially, would have enjoyed that. He asked on Sunday (next day) if we could go to Howarth again… A sure sign he enjoyed himself, or perhaps is aware there’s something he missed out on… Ended up in Leeds from Howarth, but as it was getting on a bit, it was not really a major stop. As the trains were out on the Caldervale line that day, (Leeds refurbishment work?) we had to catch a coach back home. Eve so nearly made it home, but we were just getting back to Tod when travel sickness got the better of her. All in all it was a very busy day & the kids did very well. Were well behaved even though we were late getting back & they must have been truly fagged out. An easier day on Sunday, as Carloline needed to go home. As Jack woke up he asked (as mentioned) if we were off out anywhere special (Howarth). When told not because Caloline was going back to London today, he was most upset that she would be leaving. Both Jack & Eve really love her. We went off to Hebden again & as (yet again) the trains were not running, it was a coach at the station that took Caroline on her journey back. It was, of course late. Louise went to change Eve’s nappy, & while they were off the coach came. Jack & I said the good-byes. As Caroline settled on the coach Jack said, “I’m really sad now”. I gave him a hug & pointed out Caroline at the window, & then the coach pulled away. Jack returned a few blown kisses & started to cry.