Woe, woe and thrice times, woe....

It's not been a very lucky week..... last Friday I somehow managed to leave my mobile phone in a gilet.... I always check my stuff before tossing it into the machine! But I am not one for keeping anything in my gilet pockets, or any other pockets, so why I put my phone there and why I did not feel the weight, or why it did not fall out as I carried my washing to the machine the giftie sprites and I simply do not know. I heard clumpity clumping from the washing machine and it was all too late.... for my phone is always clean, but now that one is super sparkly superbically clean.... and broken... it was a favourite a Samsung J530. I bought another J530 and got a new sim, I was back up and running by Sunday.

So about only two months ago, I bought a very nice microwave, called Sparkle Rose, very glitzy and that! Anyway, on Wednesday it decided to stop working. It does not cook. I can see a little clock symbol on the dash thingy, but have not a clue, firstly if it is supposed to be there, (anyone know?), or secondly, if not, how to get the clock thingy off the dash wotsit. The instruction manual has nothing about what to do.... I have pressed all the buttons in sequence and long pressed.... alas, nothing. I have quite got used to using my cooker since Wednesday for heating my teas and am contemplating not having one anymore. It is only used to heat up my special teas and is used very occasionally for foods..... things cook just as quick on the hob, such as baked beans and that. I would have an extra bit of space in my kitchy too!!!! I have booked a trip to the recycle centre on Sunday, so if anyone knows how to fix my micry problem, I need to know by then.....nobody I know has so far....

Third woe..... Helga's battery gave up the ghost.... for it has been cold and I don't think that helped, the old one is only a few, perhaps four years old, but it is a Halford's own as is the new one, coz I have no idea how to change a car battery. They did not have a Bosch, which I wanted, for it might last longer? but que sera sera....

Three things!!!!! I deserve some good luck now!!!!

Celia xx

My condolences

In the US we call a gilet a safety vest, and I often wear one when going for an evening run in the cold of winter. Yes, been there, putting things through the wash that should not have seen the inside of the machine.

I just sold my old truck a couple of weeks ago because, what with working from home, I was driving it seldom enough that the battery was constantly going dead in the winter cold. While it was over 20 years old, and I have another car, it was occasionally useful for hauling things around. But it did cost me maintenance, insurance, and registration, and I was simply not getting enough value out of it to justify buying a new battery and all the other work it needed done.

So far my six or seven year old microwave is working fine. Knock on wood...

Yyy

Hi Tara and Marie,

I guess something is lost in translation? For we sometimes also call a safety vest just that, but some do call a safety vest a gilet. The type I wear are quite different, (you call them bodywarmers, I think?)....

... the one I wishy-washied with my mobile is like the Regatta black dawnby type shown, but tan, you can see it here, near the top....   https://www.next.co.uk/shop/gender-women-productaffiliation-coatsandjackets/category-gilets#5_1060 but I do keep a fluerescentent gilet in Helga, just in case she should break down on the motorway.....

Marie, I searched Moby from top to bottom, my purse , my bags, my pockets..... (hahaha)... nothing.... no receipt. I am terrible for that, I am that excited opening stuff, I do not keep them, they get tossed in my bin.... I will remember the light thingy, coz I have some lcds in my living room!

Off to shower now and then it is coffee, then it is time to clean and iron.... deep joy!!!!

Celia xx

I feel for ya guys, I think

I haven't used my cell in 2 months. It just sits on the shelf mostly.

I sure hope the microwave keeps on trucking though.

As I've never driven in my life, can't relate to the hassles of owning a car. But I'd die without my bike. Well, I wouldn't 'die', but I would not enjoy replacing a 1000 dollar bike that was a gift.

Tfgh

Celia Eriksson wrote:
I guess something is lost in translation? For we sometimes also call a safety vest just that, but some do call a safety vest a gilet. The type I wear are quite different, (you call them bodywarmers, I think?)....

Indeed, you are correct. I guess my familiarity with the French usage, especially after the gilets jaunes protests, coloured (ahem) my idea of a gilet. I would call those outdoor vests, or simply vests. For example, REI Women's Vests. I've a couple I use for running on cool mornings.

In any case, not the ideal place for a mobile to go through the wash.

Unplug the microwave and let it sit for a while (an hour) then plug it in again.  Sounds like you got it stuck on changing the time somehow.

That other thing, the dodgy LED and CFL bulbs can short out and blow your breakers or fuses, whereas the less efficient tungsten always failed open.   I had one do that and fuse the switch in a table lamp which I then had to rewire completely and god that was not fun, wires snaking into not enough space...  

  Lisa

Hi Marci,

Thanks for the advice, I gave it one last chance before taking it to the Recycle Centre, it had been unplugged for a few day, alas it did not work..... I have got quite used to being old school now with cooking tinned stuff and heating my teas.

I surmised that folk got along quite adequately before microwaves and I that I should do the same. It is quite surprising how many things I did use it for.... not just teas and beans! There was my porridge, albeit a very Wintery thing, but I felt like some and it was messy in the pan. Then heating up my double roast....

....as I live alone and not partaking in large quantities, a small pork, beef or lamb joint will last me three days. So for two of them I have roast. I cook enough potatoes, parsnips, carrots etc. for two and on the second day, I have the meat cold, only heated by gravy... I would heat the remainder in the microwave. Now it takes longer in the oven.

But, I have got used to not having one already!  

Well, Spring has sprung, it was a beautiful day yesterday and this morning is lovely, even if Jack Frost's fingers are still with us. We are promised more lovely weather to come this weekend and next week, it is touching 60f mid-day and lots of sunny sunshine. Helga was very warm inside and I actually wound down her windows going to the Supermarket yesterday....


Celia xx

Celia Eriksson wrote:Helga was very warm inside and I actually wound down her windows going to the Supermarket yesterday...

I once had a car named Helga, a red 2000 Passat. She was lovely, and quite fun to drive with a turbo engine and five-speed.

My current driving partner is a gold 2011 BMW 328i, name of Brunhilda. I had the windows and sunroof open a bit today with sunshine and 22°C (72°F). Funny that last Saturday we had a snowstorm, and a week later it's gorgeous, with crocuses and daffodils blooming.

Well, I should tell the latest on Helga's saga and the phone....

I did get another phone and it is nicer and works oh so much better... I got a pretty sky blue case and it's lovely. So I tried to start the old one up on Saturday. It was blank, so I plugged it in to charge and it started charging! The screen showed the green bubbly battery exuded bubbles.

I left it for an hour or so and switched the phone on.... it wiorked!!!! After swishy swashying around for an hour in my wahing machine! It was a little feint, not a lot, but a little, almost like a watercolour instead of an acrylic or oil painting appears. Most importantly, I managed to retrieve all my contacts!!!!!

Things have been good too, nice things happening.... until some little mishaps this morning. Oh my gosh, I took Helga in today, it is her MOT and a full service and getting her starting problem sorted out.... she has been a little better, starting more often, but I can't be sure she won't do the wait ten minute thing again.

So I took her in, nice and early. Then I was shown my courtesy car...... it is horrid. But never mind I thought, anything will do. I offered my licence for the insurance. It is insured he said. To any driver I said. Pause. It is insured he repeated.... I don't know, but anyway...

The man said I have to fill her up, coz she has not much fuel. So I drove to the garage, in a place I hardly know, discovering on the way that the handbrake does not work.... found the garage and could not open the fuel thingy to fill up. I searched and searched. I asked a van driver with white paint all over him and he could not find it. I phoned the garage.... just pull it he said. I pulled and broke a nail..... I tried again and it popped open. I put £15 in, maybe too much for a 14 mile round trip... paid and went back to the car. I tried the door it would not open!!!!

Then a laughing woman walked towards me...... the car I was trying to open was brown, my courtesy car, a Corsa is silver!!!! Embarrassed.... I told her sorry, but it was a courtesy car.... she did not seem to mind, if she believed such a monstrosity could be a courtesy car.... now I am worried the police will think I am a phantom garage thief!!!! I don't know, what a morning. It was not 'til I got home just now and looked the car's bonnet has large blobs of paint missing.... I hope I get Helga back later today!!!!

Woe and worry is I!!!!

Celia xx

Well, time to update.... it is raining so tending my plant pots has come to an abrupt end....

I am now quite used to cooking without a microwave.... it is actually easier.... and because I have a grill, the toaster has been demoted to some cupboard space. My electic kettle got the boot a while ago, I like my nice shiny copper kettle whistling away merrily when it is time for coffee or a cuppa. In fact all my pans are copper, things cook so well in them,

Helga is fit and well, she starts first time, every time and has had a full service, she runs beautifully for her 28 years of age, I am off to an auction at 5, knowing she will get me there.

I have left my part time job at a south coast city's second hospital, about ten miles away. I guess it is time to throw the towel in on hospital environment. Trust me, wearing a mask all day is no fun.... I am very tired of it. Although the staff there were wonderful, I shall miss them so very much. I was only with them for a year, yet they gave me a big bottle of prosecco and a 60 pound voucher for a hardware store as I am continuing my decorating whilst on my sabbatical until Autumn time. They are also throwing a party for me later this month.

So, I have already finished my kitchen. A neighbour advised me to do it white, ceilings, walls, skirting, cornice... then I don't have to cut in.... well, I chose 'candle light' white, a kind of white with a hint of yellow. I thought that I could do as advised and then if I did not like it do the walls in a colour... it worked though, it took just 4 hours including prep! It looks very nice! I have ordered some blinds to finish the job.

Just my living room to do, I have chosen Kensington Green for that. I have so many knick knacks around the walls, it will be a kind of Victorian look, I hope. It is a nice rich green, not too light, not too dark!

Things generally are quite woe free!!!! I am looking forward .... oh, hold the bus... there goes the washing dryer, it has finished... best get to my ironing....

Hope all is well with everyone!!!!

Celia xx