More New Greenery
Posted: Sat 19 March, 2016 Filed under: Domestic, Getting Organised, Green, House Work, Shopping Leave a comment »Having sorted out some new pots and plants earlier this week, I’d been thinking about a couple of small trees to put in Big Pots, which should finish things off nicely.
Today, I got some – two ‘patio apple’ trees and pots for them to go in. They’ve been outside all the time anyway, so they’re now planted out and situated where I want them to be.
I’m done for now with plants, I think. I do want to find a more comfortable table and chair(s) next, although that can wait a while ’til I see what there is that I like. I’m not in a hurry – I’ve a chair that’s serviceable, but I do want to find something better. I just have to know it’s better before I buy it…
New Greenery
Posted: Wed 16 March, 2016 Filed under: Domestic, Getting Organised, House Work 2 Comments »Last summer, I spent some time and money on my house, even though it’s a rented place. Nothing permanent, just some flooring/decking out in the back yard, repainting the wooden fences, and some plants in pots. It was a successful plan, and it looks much better now than it did before.
Over the winter, it’s all been a bit bare, and I’ve been thinking about what to do next with it all.
Today, I left work earlier than usual and went to get some new stuff, more planters and plants, that kind of thing. Some summer and autumn bulbs, a climbing jasmine, clematis, and some other bits.
Once I got home, I got it all planted up and watered, so we’ll see how it all works out. I’m still planning to get some more bits, and repaint the wooden fences again (hopefully with less marks and blobs this time) so it looks better.
As before, it’s all movable – well, except for the painted woodwork, of course. Whether I do move it or not (as and when I move) is a different decision – the plants and pots could easily go, the yard tiling/decking is really only fit for the current yard, so it’s six of one and half a dozen of the other.
In the meantime, though, the aim – assuming a decent spring and summer – will be to have an open space that’s actually usable and comfortable. Hopefully the stuff I’ve now got there is the groundwork for having that this year.
Little Victories
Posted: Sun 13 March, 2016 Filed under: Bankruptcy, Customer Services, Domestic, Finances, Getting Organised, Rebuilding Leave a comment »Back in December, I discovered that three companies had been mis-reporting things on my credit-score – reporting finances/loans/debts that had been included in the bankruptcy as still being ‘in default’ (i.e. not paid) every month since. As a result, I wrote to all three, asking them to correct the information and sort things out.
One company- one at the allegedly ‘bad end’ of the finance industry – came back to me on the same day, agreeing that they’d got it wrong, and correcting things all the way back to 2012, the time of the bankruptcy. Happy day.
The other two – supposedly more ‘responsible’ and ‘professional’ organisations – have dawdled and faffed about with it. They’ve both failed to live up to their own complaints procedures and timescales, and generally just taken their time to get things sorted.
In the end it’s taken extra hassles, extra letters and calls, and mentions of going to the Financial Ombudsman, the Information Commissioner (for dodgy reporting of information) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) And that’s the ‘professional’ companies, don’t forget.
But it’s all sorted now – my latest credit report shows that they’re now all reporting the accounts as closed/satisfied (which’ll do) but it’s taken three months to get it done.
The fix to the scores isn’t immediate – but as these things go further back in time, they fade in importance on the scores, and that will start to improve properly now. It’s been a pain in the arse to get sorted, but it’s done now, and that counts as a little victory, another improvement in the long path. And it’ll do for now.
Ridiculously Organised
Posted: Fri 19 February, 2016 Filed under: Cinema, Day Trips, Domestic, Films, Geeky, Getting Organised, London, Thoughts, Travel Leave a comment »So far, this year has been pretty non-stop with travel, visits, concerts and idiot day-trips (mainly to see concerts) and I’ve kept on saying that I must calm things down a bit, build in some time for myself and so on.
And I’m trying to, I really am.
But then cool stuff comes up that I want to go to – which means I now have plans all the way through this year. Not every weekend, or anything similar – but there’s already stuff planned right the way through to December.
The latest one, last night, was finding out that the Royal Albert Hall is doing a showing of Aliens – with the soundtrack performed by a full orchestra, as a celebration of the 30th anniversary of its release. Even more fortuitously, it’s on the weekend of my birthday. Oh, I am so there.
And so yes, tickets are booked for it. I’d already got stuff booked in for December as well, so as it turns out, November was the only month this year without something already booked in.
Now my main challenge will be to not book up the rest of the year, and suddenly realise I’ve had ridiculously few ‘downtime’ weekends. Again.
Stars
Posted: Fri 12 February, 2016 Filed under: Day Trips, Domestic, Driving, Food, Geeky, Getting Organised, Single Life, Solo Dining, Thoughts, Travel Leave a comment »Last year, I started a project to get used to going out for restaurant meals on my own – something that had always been a bit of a “thing” in my mind. Some people don’t like going to the cinema alone, or to pubs.
Part of it became a plan to do more “high-end” eating – if I’m going to eat solo, I might as well make it decent stuff – as well as the usual things, and as a result I ended up eating in a few Michelin-starred places which I really enjoyed. (Far more than I did my previous experience with Michelin-starred places)
I’m keeping up that aim this year, with a vague plan of trying a wide range over the year, and aiming to ‘collect’ a star a month. (Not necessarily at a place each month, but at least averaging it out to one star per month)
So far this year I’ve eaten in a one-star place and a three – with a two lined up for the coming month. From there, I’ve got a couple of others booked up already, and we’ll see how things go from there.
I don’t only eat in Michelin places, by any stretch of the imagination. My tastes are varied – I’m still amused by the Scotland trip I did last year, where I ate in a Michelin-starred place on the Saturday, and a daggy little hole-in-the-wall Mexican place on the Sunday – and I never want to end up the kind of up-myself twerd who’ll only eat at high-end places. This is just a silly side-project that’s also a lot of fun, and is eminently doable. I get to experience a lot of new stuff, seeing what’s good and what isn’t.
I can’t deny, I’m fascinated by the whole thing – the levels of food, the differences (or lack thereof) between places with one, two and three stars, the differences between places with stars and those that haven’t, and the whole experience of the thing. But mainly, it’s fun – and if I’m going to have a ‘sin’, a money-drain or whatever, it’s going to be this one.
Healthy Car
Posted: Sat 6 February, 2016 Filed under: Car Repairs, Domestic, Driving, Getting Organised, Thoughts, Travel Leave a comment »Following on from the car’s various issues over the last month, it now appears (touch wood) to be all sorted.
However, it means that in the last month it’s had
- MOT (Passed with no problem)
- Two separate broken pipes to the turbo, on different occasions – but weirdly, at the exact same location. (i.e. while driving, both times the engine management light came on at the same junction)
- 150,000 mile service, which included a couple of other small fixes too
Thankfully, it’s not been massively expensive, and the fixes have been small ones. But still, it would’ve been a nicer/easier month without having to do them. (as well as the hire of replacement cars while it was being unreliable) Such is life.
There’s one more bit that needs doing, which is booked in for a couple of weeks time (a bit annoying, as I thought they were doing it at the same time as the service, but such is life) but for now it seems like all’s well again.
Since the main bits of work, it’s had another 1,000 miles added on, so it all feels like it’s settled in again. But as always, time will tell.