(no subject)
I'm amazed at by the snow. I don't think I've ever seen as much the entire time I've been in the UK. Thankfully, tonight's blizzard forecast has turned into really heavy rain. Annoyingly, the rain/snow means that there's an incessant dripdripdrip on the loose drain pipe outside the door to the garden which is driving me nuts. I have tried looking out the second bedroom window and looking up from the garden to see what precisely is wrong, but, I can't (we have no ladder). Now, it seems dripdripdrip effect has produced some water seepage into the kitchen itself. Basically, there's water coming through the wall above the door. It's not horrible, but if it's not seen to quickly, not only will it get worse, there's risk of structural damage to the walls. I told the letting agency about it last week and they said they'd have landlord get in touch to arrange repair (as he normally does this sort of thing himself). Well, I've heard boo from the landlord so I rang the agency again. They sounded really surprised he'd not been in touch ("it sounds structural and that could be very serious!" - well, yes!) and said they'd follow up again. Hopefully we can get this sorted (very) soon.
I've had a weekend that ended up being quite nicely balanced between social and quiet. Friday evening I attended a friend's 30th birthday party. She decided to have a big blow out and hired a hall, had a DJ and invited a whole host of family and friends to attend. Now knowing that the venue was about 10 miles from where I live (and that I don't have a car) the birthday girl kindly hooked me up with a friend of hers for taxi sharing purposes. Then, on the day of the event (merely hours to go before our attendance was required), I get a text from this friend of hers saying that due to the weather she'd decided to drive and there wasn't enough room in the car for me and Joe. Ooh sorry. Gee, thanks lady. There wasn't enough time to get public transport to the event, so we ended up taxiing there anyway. When we arrived, the birthday girl came over to greet us and then asked where her friend was. We had to tell her what happened. The birthday girl was rather horrified at this change of circumstance and began apologising. I had to remind her that it wasn't her fault! She was kind enough to try to find a mutually convenient solution to a transport problem and it's her friend that was, well, a bit of a bitch here (though I didn't quite use those words). The main thing is we made it and the birthday girl had a good night. The party itself wasn't too bad, although I had a bizarre 40 minutes of anxiety not long after arriving. I never get bothered by this sort of social situation, so the feeling of being on edge was quite disconcerting. I still don't know what it was about, or what triggered it (I honestly don't think it was my aborted lift), but thankfully it passed and I managed to enjoy myself in the end.
Saturday was my weekly driving lesson, and my driving instructor informed me that I need to rebook my practical test (it's currently in for the 21st of this month). Unbeknownst to him, his wife had booked him a surprise getaway for his birthday (which is around that time). The good thing is I have enough notice that I won't lose the test fee (£57!!) and will just need to wait longer to do the exam. I've not rebooked it yet, but will do tomorrow. I also found time on Sunday to do a bit of baking (pumpkin bread) which I then took over to another friend's house to consume with tea and conversation. I went over in the mid-afternoon sunshine, and walked back after dark through thickly falling snow (there was at least 3-4cm on the ground). My friend offered to drive me, but I insisted on walking; I love how sound is muffled when it snows. It's like the snowflakes are acting like acoustic tiles. I also like the 'bright night' effect where snow reflects nearly all light cast upon it from urban lights and back into the atmosphere. Plus it's pretty.
Series Two of Mad Men begins tomorrow night. Hurrah!
I've had a weekend that ended up being quite nicely balanced between social and quiet. Friday evening I attended a friend's 30th birthday party. She decided to have a big blow out and hired a hall, had a DJ and invited a whole host of family and friends to attend. Now knowing that the venue was about 10 miles from where I live (and that I don't have a car) the birthday girl kindly hooked me up with a friend of hers for taxi sharing purposes. Then, on the day of the event (merely hours to go before our attendance was required), I get a text from this friend of hers saying that due to the weather she'd decided to drive and there wasn't enough room in the car for me and Joe. Ooh sorry. Gee, thanks lady. There wasn't enough time to get public transport to the event, so we ended up taxiing there anyway. When we arrived, the birthday girl came over to greet us and then asked where her friend was. We had to tell her what happened. The birthday girl was rather horrified at this change of circumstance and began apologising. I had to remind her that it wasn't her fault! She was kind enough to try to find a mutually convenient solution to a transport problem and it's her friend that was, well, a bit of a bitch here (though I didn't quite use those words). The main thing is we made it and the birthday girl had a good night. The party itself wasn't too bad, although I had a bizarre 40 minutes of anxiety not long after arriving. I never get bothered by this sort of social situation, so the feeling of being on edge was quite disconcerting. I still don't know what it was about, or what triggered it (I honestly don't think it was my aborted lift), but thankfully it passed and I managed to enjoy myself in the end.
Saturday was my weekly driving lesson, and my driving instructor informed me that I need to rebook my practical test (it's currently in for the 21st of this month). Unbeknownst to him, his wife had booked him a surprise getaway for his birthday (which is around that time). The good thing is I have enough notice that I won't lose the test fee (£57!!) and will just need to wait longer to do the exam. I've not rebooked it yet, but will do tomorrow. I also found time on Sunday to do a bit of baking (pumpkin bread) which I then took over to another friend's house to consume with tea and conversation. I went over in the mid-afternoon sunshine, and walked back after dark through thickly falling snow (there was at least 3-4cm on the ground). My friend offered to drive me, but I insisted on walking; I love how sound is muffled when it snows. It's like the snowflakes are acting like acoustic tiles. I also like the 'bright night' effect where snow reflects nearly all light cast upon it from urban lights and back into the atmosphere. Plus it's pretty.
Series Two of Mad Men begins tomorrow night. Hurrah!