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Saturday 7 September 2013

Pitfalls & Pleasures

It's fascinating how fairly small things can make you almost ecstatic. After 9 days without the telly, (none of the aerial sockets worked), Catherine, a very competent woman TV engineer came today, (from Tetbury, how ironic is that), & I now have working TV's. This means I can collapse in a heap with a gin & tonic, glass of wine, or cup of tea, depending on how the day has gone.

Similarly it's a 5 minute walk to swim at Summer Fields school, where Maryon teaches, & up to now I've generally had the pool to myself, or shared it with only one or two others. (A heart attack might be bad news, but I'd go doing something I enjoy!) The population of North Oxford are probably better off now I don't need to cycle to Marston Leisure Centre.

I've got a bedroom which is blissfully quiet in the centre of a city & I can now walk round the bed & select something to wear from the wardrobe. On the negative side the removal men went off with a large suitcase which has all my nighties & pyjamas in. (There must also be something else, but I'm not sure what).

One of the pitfalls is the central heating system. Gus, a very nice South African heating engineer, came to breathe life into my boiler on Thursday so I was able to Dymo label all the switches, which up to then had baffled everyone who tried to work out the heating & hot water. That was the good news. Sadly the lights are on but no one's home. Although the control panel says it's working there's no hot water.

My lovely new neighbours invited me round for a drink this evening, so I was able to remind myself what a fully functioning house looked like. My old friends & neighbours are extremely good at boosting my morale with cheering emails, phone calls & practical help. Steve, my computer wizard, was able to sort out my errant wireless mouse long distance today. For some bizarre reason it woke up & refused to budge. On Steve's advice, a judicious prod with a big paperclip in the right place got it going again.

Life is a balance between good & bad. The former far outweighs the latter, but sometimes the latter obscures the former.




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