On the laptop...
My all-in-one desktop has gone to be health-checked, so I am using my laptop to do this entry. It doesn't take up quite as much room on my desk, but I always find using a laptop keyboard hard. I hate the mouse, so always use a USB mouse, which helps.
Yesterday was one for the books. We are pretty hard up at the moment, and Chris got a letter from the letting agents saying what stuff was wrong with the apartment he had just left. Little things, but he is worried they will take his £500 deposit, which he needs for the new apartment. Sometimes I just don't know how we get through each month. We get paid at different times, and close to the end of the month, he is always subbing me, and when I get paid at the end of the month, I have to sub him. Somehow we manage, but I recall once he was explaining the European monetary crisis to me and he used the expression "...and one day it will all go 'pop'." Every month, I wonder if this will be the one where our finances go 'pop'.
Anyways, so that's the background. So we are always looking to save money by being careful with the utilities - gas and electricity are quite expensive, and so we have to make sure we turn all lights, computers and TVs off when they are not being used to save electricity, keep the hot water usage to a minimum and use the central heating only when it gets really cold. Last year I tried not to turn the central heating on until late October.
Now, Grace works just about every day at the Lobster Pot, and she only has one uniform which she likes to wash after every shift - I don't begrudge her that, only she very often ONLY washes the uniform, which uses a bucket load of electricity for two items. Not good. Yesterday, she managed to put in a few other items, and then discovered that her blouse had fallen out of the pile and didn't get washed. And she wanted to put it into the washer on its own. Well I was pretty steamed at that, and we started arguing, and she stomped off in a huff and slammed doors, and then CHRIS decided she should be able to wash the blouse anyway. On its own.
I was absolutely livid. Not only does he go against the rule that we save electricity, but he sides with Grace over me, completely overriding my decision. I just felt so betrayed and unsupported.
He then went off to his mother's house for the evening, and I tried, really I tried to put it behind me. But I was still really upset this morning and had it out with him. He says he didn't mean to upset me, and I believe him, but how can he say he didn't want to get into an argument with Grace and have her getting upset and slamming doors and stuff? I said, so it was okay for me to get upset and slam doors? Of course not, but he didn't realise how upset I was (because every time I tried to say so, he talked over me!!) and he had this other stuff on his mind and he'd been up all night thinking about it, yada yada.
We have made up now, but I was pretty steamed that he's not here most of the time and I have to make all the decisions and then when he comes home, he just takes over and ignores my rules and makes his own.
Life is back to normal in the Maple household; he took me out for breakfast at Frankie & Benny's even though I protested (weakly) that we shouldn't spend any more money. :P Besides, a nice breakfast that I haven't had to cook is always worth it. ;)
Yesterday was one for the books. We are pretty hard up at the moment, and Chris got a letter from the letting agents saying what stuff was wrong with the apartment he had just left. Little things, but he is worried they will take his £500 deposit, which he needs for the new apartment. Sometimes I just don't know how we get through each month. We get paid at different times, and close to the end of the month, he is always subbing me, and when I get paid at the end of the month, I have to sub him. Somehow we manage, but I recall once he was explaining the European monetary crisis to me and he used the expression "...and one day it will all go 'pop'." Every month, I wonder if this will be the one where our finances go 'pop'.
Anyways, so that's the background. So we are always looking to save money by being careful with the utilities - gas and electricity are quite expensive, and so we have to make sure we turn all lights, computers and TVs off when they are not being used to save electricity, keep the hot water usage to a minimum and use the central heating only when it gets really cold. Last year I tried not to turn the central heating on until late October.
Now, Grace works just about every day at the Lobster Pot, and she only has one uniform which she likes to wash after every shift - I don't begrudge her that, only she very often ONLY washes the uniform, which uses a bucket load of electricity for two items. Not good. Yesterday, she managed to put in a few other items, and then discovered that her blouse had fallen out of the pile and didn't get washed. And she wanted to put it into the washer on its own. Well I was pretty steamed at that, and we started arguing, and she stomped off in a huff and slammed doors, and then CHRIS decided she should be able to wash the blouse anyway. On its own.
I was absolutely livid. Not only does he go against the rule that we save electricity, but he sides with Grace over me, completely overriding my decision. I just felt so betrayed and unsupported.
He then went off to his mother's house for the evening, and I tried, really I tried to put it behind me. But I was still really upset this morning and had it out with him. He says he didn't mean to upset me, and I believe him, but how can he say he didn't want to get into an argument with Grace and have her getting upset and slamming doors and stuff? I said, so it was okay for me to get upset and slam doors? Of course not, but he didn't realise how upset I was (because every time I tried to say so, he talked over me!!) and he had this other stuff on his mind and he'd been up all night thinking about it, yada yada.
We have made up now, but I was pretty steamed that he's not here most of the time and I have to make all the decisions and then when he comes home, he just takes over and ignores my rules and makes his own.
Life is back to normal in the Maple household; he took me out for breakfast at Frankie & Benny's even though I protested (weakly) that we shouldn't spend any more money. :P Besides, a nice breakfast that I haven't had to cook is always worth it. ;)