My very busy March continues.
On Tuesday I had to travel for another meeting. After the last trip I'd left a message to the car hire company to say that the seat in the Nissan Juke was too long (horrible car). This time they turned up with a beaten up old Astra, with (ready for this) a gear stick instead of a button.
I think that the car was a punishment for complaining - however, given that it was a reasonable sized car, without complicated controls and it had a proper gear stick - I was actually dancing for joy. I could see by the look on their faces I was the first person to ever get excited when this car had been delivered.
It really was great. It was so uncomplicated that I could literally get in it and drive off with no concerns.
The journey to Southampton was a nightmare. From about 10 minutes into the journey I was in a traffic jam that just didn't clear the whole way. I'm not sure why - I headed off at about 16:00 so should have missed the worst of the traffic.
I arrived at the hotel shattered. The hotel wasn't posh, it was chosen specifically because it was approximately 5 minutes walk from the venue the next day. The first thing the person on reception told me was that the restaurant was closed for refurbishment.
Had I known, I would have purchased food on the way. It's not like there were loads of options. Whilst close to the venue the next day the hotel was not near anything else. It was right off a junction on the M27. The only nearby places were a pub (too knackered to face that and didn't want to be around humans) and a Greggs drive in. Given I'm currently off carbs the Greggs was out (not that I like their food - but don't tell anybody I suspect that would put me on a hit list).
There was a Lidl and I thought maybe I could walk to that, but the hotel was at the back and the only way I could work out how to get to it was to go down an ally. The light was dropping, I didn't know the area and I knew by the time I left the supermarket it would be dark. I was certainly not going to make my way down an ally in the dark in an area I didn't know whether it was safe or not. (Yes boys, this is why women march about reclaiming the night - there are bits of the world closed off to women after dark!! It's shameless and it's not because we're afraid of monsters or other women - consider that!!).
By now I was absolutely starving, I went back to my room and went to see if there was a deliveroo, but all of that was heavy on carb. I was just about to order a KFC for some ridiculous amount of money when I stopped myself. If I was about to buy chicken covered in carbs I may as well just have something from Greggs. So I went to Greggs which was about to shut and got myself a chicken slice and yogurt. I have to say - true to what I said early - I wasn't a fan of neither item (yuck). But at least I wasn't hungry any more. I know Greggs is massively popular, I wonder why I don't like it?
Because I'm off carbs the chicken slice hit my stomach like a lead weight and I ended up all night with indigestion - barely sleeping.
The next day I was due to go to a conference and they'd asked for dietry requirements. I hadn't shared carb free with them because I'd intended to have a slap up breakfast that would see me through the day.
Unfortunately, the breakfast offer was extremely poor frozen fruit, watery natural yoghurt and wrapped processed cheese and everything served with disposable cutlery.
As I sat there, I felt genuinely sorry for the staff. Person after person came in, upset at the situation, and the team had to repeatedly apologise. To their credit despite this constant pressure, they remained polite, professional and empathetic throughout. I was really impressed with them.
Needless to say I did write to complain and to insist that the team at the hotel were recognised for how they had dealt with the situation. I hope never to stay at that hotel again - but if I end up at the same venue as I went to the next day I probably will. I'm a sucker for an easy journey in the morning.
With yet another work trip I ended the week shattered, but fortunately we had a quiet weekend.
Dog is still on heat and so her walks at the moment are a bit rubbish. On Saturday morning the sun was out early (though still very cold). I got dressed and by 06:00 we were down by the beach. There was nobody around (as you can see from the photo). The tides were kind and this meant I could take her down to a beach that didn't have easy access, let her off the lead and we could walk to the rockpools.
So she had what is now her second paddle of the year, though it's still cold so she can't stay in the water for too long, but it was nice to give her a bit of freedom. There's only 4 days to go until she's safe to wander.
As I walked my mind wandered and I remembered that I had thought we were away this weekend (but actually it's next) and that husband had been invited to a Jam tribute band in Lewes, that he'd had to turn down. The first thing I did when I got in was see if there were any tickets left. Hoorah there were. This meant that when husband woke up I could tell him he had a ticket and all he had to do was to arrange to meet up with his friends. I was pleased with that result.
As it was a quiet day and the sun was out it meant I ended up with chores. I weeded the back patio and then used the algae spray on it (still needs a wall wash to see if I can get away without painting). Then I swept the patio and used a mop to wash the patio with the algae wash. I'd done some research during the week on dog friendly ways of getting rid of moss. The solution was apparently a mix of white vinegar, washing up liquid and water. So I did a good spray of that. It's still to early to know if it's worked.
Once the back patio was done I repeated with the front patio. At least the worst of that bits over and done with. Just months of weeding to go. I'm hoping son's medical condition gets resolved so he can be our gardener.
On the subject of son - he's officially been diagnosed with hypothyroidism, he's now taking medicine to sort that out. We're hoping it stops him from over heating, but we'll not know for a while. They did say that they thought he might have some sort of Auto Immune problem too which is scaring the sh*t out of me. He's got more bloods in about a month. I'm hoping that it's not a problem, but watch this space.
The over heating is so debilitating for him. He can't even practice driving for his driving test because even if it's cold outside the car because the sun has come out he over heats in minutes and can't cope. I know in writing it doesn't sound bad, but it really is debilitating - he can't even move fast and has to limit everything he does. We will get to the other side of what's happening, but it's taking a long long time.
Sunday was again quiet, I took the dog down for another paddle first thing and then I cleaned my car inside. It was in such a state, largely being used for dog walks so covered in mud and grass. It's going in for it's MOT early next week. I'm concerned that it's not going to pass or it's going to be expensive to get it through. It's the first time I've been genuinely nervous. I figured if it looked clean inside they at least wouldn't start the MOT thinking that the car wasn't cared for (which it's not). The problem is with an MOT that's kinda it - you do end up paying for the stuff and it's cost me a lot this year.
The car is only fit for scrap because the paintwork is so bad, but I really don't want to have to fork out huge amounts of money for a new car. Son's car had it's MOT last week and there was a problem with the passenger seatbelt. It was only twisted and they managed to fix it for £45. But I know there's a problem with mine not returning fast enough. It works absolutely fine, but I looked at how much that will cost if they need to buy a new mechanism and it's £500 which is a hell of a spend on a car that's ready for scrap. But I'll need to spend it to keep the car on the road.
So watch this space - why is there always something to worry about.
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