1 April 2014 (Wednesday) - Feeling Grotty

I woke this morning feeling rather grotty; but when faced with the choice of getting on with life or sitting and sulking I decided to get on with life. I've only got a cold, but colds are *only* colds when you don't actually have one.

I spent a few minutes spotting spelling mistakes on recommended websites on the Internet before taking "Furry Face ^TM" for a walk. He did seem rather tired and sleepy over brekkie; the moment I stood up he leapt into action obviously expecting to go out.

We first went to Bowens Field Wetland Park where I saw that the supermarket trolley had again been thrown into the pond. I've already fished it out twice in less than a week and I couldn't be bothered to make a third effort this morning. I left it there. Was that wrong of me?

We then carried on into Viccie Park where we terrified a dog which looked to be the big brother of a Siberian timber wolf. We played nicely with a greyhound and a springer spaniel, and we ran in terror from a rather effeminate-looking chihuahua before coming home.

Once home "Furry Face ^TM" had his brekkie and then curled up in his basket and was snoring within a few seconds. I turned on the laptop and checked out the Internet again to see if anything had happened since brekkie time. It hadn't.

I seriously considered phoning work to say I'd be off sick, but thought better of the idea.

I set off to work via a spot of window shopping. Regular readers of this drivel may recall that on 27 October 2014 I bought a new ironing board from the cheapo-bargains shop. At the time I crowed about what a bargain it was. I spoke too soon. I've given it a fair trial for six months and it is crap.

Yesterday as a special pressie "er indoors ^TM" bought me a new ironing board (from Sainsburys) and at the risk of appearing ungrateful, it too is crap. I stopped off a Dunelm on my way to work. Since I was last there the place has dropped "Mill" from it's name; however they still employ the same disinterested-to-the-point-of-rudeness staff. And all of their ironing boards are crap as well. Even the ones costing over seventy quid are worse than useless to me.

It transpires that all modern ironing boards are crap.

Not that many people do ironing any more, but when you iron, you need a flat surface on which to work (this is the "ironing board"). However all modern ironing boards are riddled with holes for no apparent reason, and using one is akin to ironing on a cheese grater. I shall take the new ironing board to a traditional hardware store and see if they can cut me a lump of hardboard to shape which I can then fasten to the frame of the new ironing board. Or failing that I shall either have a rummage round the charity shops or steal my mother's one.

I got to work, again I wondered if I should have phoned in sick. I did my bit on a rather busy day. At lunchtime I had sax practice. Not as much as I probably should have done but it was rather cold and it's difficult to give a faithful rendition of a musical score when you are so cold you can't feel your fingers.

The rest of the day got busier and busier, and I was glad when it was home time. However I'd forgotten that "er indoors ^TM" was staging a make-up party. Some very hopeful agent of ""make-up-R-us" was trying to push vastly overpriced slap onto a less than convinced public. Apparently the stuff goes on as a cream and comes off as a powder.

It was at that point that I nearly choked on my tea...