William Sans Ami

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Or to you unhedged a kated, its “Billy No Mates”, yup this was me without my best Fwend off to the pics the see Riddick and for pure edge of the seat entertainment, this film was it.

I bought my first DVD player when they first came out in the US in 1998 (believe me it cost a bomb then) and each film cost £65 to import from the US, but the best thing was the films imported on DVD had yet to be shown at the cinema in the UK. One of the first DVDs was a small budget film made in Australia called Pitch Black, which was amazing and this one now did not disappoint.

All I gotta do now is take Mrs Gimpy foot to see it when she stops working.

Strike 3

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Anyone would think we were asking the impossible, a builder to remove a fireplace and shore it up, the calcs are all done so all that is needed is someone to do the work and therein lies the rub!

We initially tried with the loft boarding out and had a guy come round, who eventually provided a quote on a compliment slip but didn’t really want the job, had one that left and never got in touch, and then one guy turned up without any tape measures who then provided the most comprehensive excel sheet that showed the minutia of costs, but never exactly said how much.

So we thought FMB (Federation of Master Builders) lets get a professional in to look at the fireplace, after all these guys must be hungry for work and we have all the info they need. Advertisement placed, 3 respondees, one turned up, measured, made notes and would supply costs on return from his holiday, but never came back, one left two messages, but when we got in touch he never turned up and then the most promising was a guy who runs teams of builders. This one measures it all, provided detailed quotes and then when it came to the crunch of him providing references. RAMS and accurate details, suddenly that very day had taken on a mass of work for the foreseeable future.

Is this mission impossible, can we build it, obviously bloody not!!!

Beam Me Up Scotty

Is it the USS Enterprise on manoeuvres or is it some alien life form?

Nope, to overcome the appalling state of affairs in rural no broadband Britain, we have invested in a satellite broadband solution with a dish that measures just under 1m in diameter (so just under planning requirement restrictions) and hangs out by just over 1m (no idea what the neighbours might say), but who care we got 20mb download, who rocks, yup we do!! Tongue pocked firmly at the government and its lack of broadband roll out.

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It’s easier to move house!

Well we are finally finished decorating one room. A mammoth two weekends and we’re shattered.

This is the first time I’ve decorated- says something really as we have a habit of just moving instead!! I can confirm, it’s less stressful to move than decorate with your partner!

So the bedroom looks beautiful. A restful haven. Mind you, we have had to do works unplanned – replacing faulty smoke detectors, wobbly switches, taking crap stuff back to Borderline and Quasi DIY store.

Only the rest of the house to do then…..of course we could always move first……

Now for a long sleep……

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Born to be BAA’d

Wool I never, gotta love a pun or two and this ain’t no “sheep” shot, no I’m not kidding ewe. Is this Mrs Fogg on the lamb or just stroking its chops!

Sorry, all of those were very baa’d.

As you can see, Mrs Fogg has adopted the local sheep, or just checking out next weeks accompaniment to her mint sauce.

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Blame Bill

If in doubt we blame the previous owners of our “des res”. Dodgy upside down toilet seats, huge holes in ceiling for light fittings, the list goes on.

Now the latest is aimed at all home owners. Never ever paint really dark colours on walls because its a beggar to paint over, and even worse when it’s right next to stained wood skirting boards. Cue more painting required to finish our lovely bedroom. Nearly there though……and we’ve painted the en suite now too. It actually looks clean now after those grubby walls.

Now onto that famous flat pack store WhyKia? Last weekend we trotted over to hell to order some Billy bookcases. Simple eh? Grab in store, take to delivery desk, get screwed out of £60 to deliver to outer rural land of nowhere and job done.

So yesterday we had the delivery and today was assembling Billy. Hmm, first on went well. Ah, second one was supplied by Daniel Day Lewis himself – two left panels (ok dodgy film ref).

Cue trying to ring WhyKia. Current phone wait time 45mins! No problem for us techies, there’s online chat. Ah yes, the screen said the online chat person would be with us in 2 seconds. More like 20 mins.

Then it was a case of trying to explain that we had two left panels and needed a right. Groan. So you have two rights and need a left?? No, the other way around. Ok can you tell me in the manual which page your part is on. erm, threw away the manual. Oh, I need the page number. You can see how this went…..for 40 mins.

And finally, replacement part should arrive week after next. We hope.

We blame Bill all the way…

Oh, and not a drop of alcohol in the house……and too shattered to go buy some.

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One Room Down

Gone is the putrid horrible colour wall, in comes the plain ole magnolia. The previous occupants couldn’t paint for toffee seeing the state of what they left.

And not a single argument!

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