26 January 2023 (Thursday) - Late Shift

As always when I didn’t have an alarm set I slept well, finally being woken by a cold wet nose being shoved up my bum shortly after seven o’clock. We all lay dozing until Treacle got restless and woke everyone by stomping all over us.
I made toast and had a look at the Internet as I do. The Facebook “Hematology Interest Group” boiled my piss as it so often does. Someone had posted a photo of what they had seen down their microscope and said “what do you think?” The answers that poured in (over seventy) had very few in agreement, and all were wildly wrong. Imagine you reaction on taking your car to what you assume to be a collection of mechanics, saying “it’s making a funny noise” and being told that the gearbox was poggered or the clutch has had it or it has run out of fuel or the sparkplugs need changing or it had blown a gasket or the radiator had blown or the tyres are flat…
I don’t think one member in a hundred on that Facebook group has the faintest idea.
I sent an email to the probate people. They have now taken double the length of time they said they would take to do whatever it is that they do about Dad’s estate.
I chased up the Lego mast I ordered on Sunday. With the on-line tracking I could see it was posted from Madison WI (wherever that is?) on Monday and moved through the Oak Creek distribution centre (wherever that is?) yesterday and today it had got to the Chicago international distribution centre (presumably in Chicago – I’ve heard of that one…)
 
I walked the dogs round the block. They are strange things. Whilst Treacle just keeps herself to herself, when we go to dog club the puppies charge around wanting to play with everyone. When they are on the leads they snarl and growl. I wish I knew why.
As we walked so Morgan did the most humungous turd; rock-solid and probably half as long as he was. I shall have to keep an eye on him.
 
We came home and watched another episode of “Star Trek: Discovery”. I think where I went wrong with this show before was watching each episode one per week as it was released. By binge-watching you can follow the tortuous plot so much easier.
I then did some more of my current Coursera course. Whilst it is very much work-related, I’m enjoying it and learning a few things along the way. As I always tell the trainees, a day when you learn nothing is a day wasted… Over the years I’ve wasted quite a few days.
 
The dogs perked up as I got ready for work. They are quite clever. They know when it is walkies time and they get very over-excited. They know when it is work time and they go to their beds where they get a treat from me on my way out.
How do they know the difference?
 
I went to B&Q before work. The living room light is flickering. Expert opinion on the internet (!) claims that the flickering in the LED lights is either because they are taking too much power or they don't like the dimmer switch. So I went to get some lower wattage LED lights, a non-dimmer switch and a screwdriver. B&Q were in the throes of having a re-design with much of the store cordoned off, and not a single thing on the shelf where it used to be. I asked several assistants for light bulbs, switches and screwdrivers, and just got blank faces. Everyone working there openly admitted that no one at all knew where anything was.
I've had issues in B&Q before; they really do need to work on some basic training for their staff. When asked "where is item X" the answer should be “I don't know - let me find out for you". It really shouldn't be along the lines of "F... only knows. I can't find anything either", should it?
 
I eventually got what I needed and set off west-wards through the -hursts and the -dens and the traffic lights. I lost count of the amount of road works I met this morning before finally getting to work, where I had a rather busy late shift.
 
And in closing, today is something of an anniversary. Sixteen years ago today I signed up with Facebook. And today would have been my Dad’s eighty-seventh birthday.

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