Spoke Too Soon

My little motor failed its MOT this morning... after making me late for work because the mechanic wasn't sure whether it was ready yet (four hours after its appointment time at the other garage). It's something about corrosion, I'll find out more tomorrow. And they couldn't adjust the clutch. So... I'm looking at maybe £600-900 worth of repairs.

But there's little choice other than to go ahead, because this is a £1500 car and without those repairs it's a £0 car. Even if it's January before I can manage to book the work in.

I'll walk back up tomorrow to face the music. Here's hoping that the failure isn't a "do not drive" because I'd quite like to have one more day where I actually have a car. The bus is a bit of a pain. I was fortunate tonight because Blondie insisted on driving me to the bus stop, and the bus came straight away, got me home in 50 minutes, which is a lot faster than usual.

It was an otherwise good day 😊

Assorted Treats

I am struggling to enjoy coffee anymore, so apart from my morning cuppa to wake up with as I read the news, I don't really drink it. I found a nice and also cheap soft drink from Cheap German Supermarket and I'm having that instead when I get the afternoon yawns. That'll be my goal for new year, to switch over onto just soft drink, somewhere in January.

Speaking of work I hit 49 hours last week (not for the first time). To the point where Nice Boss was worried about me and attempted to cut my last shift short. But I felt fine, so I stayed, knowing I need to stash the pennies while I can. Today I've had a relaxing do-nothing day - housework can wait. My car is currently in with the mechanic and it took me two hours to get home last night, after that 11-hour shift that I'd thought would be fine, well after negotiating icy pavements in the dark I was very ready to hit the sack, and I slept pretty late. I did treat myself to a bath today though. Imagine that, a world where baths are expensive and only for a special treat.

And speaking of the car, when I dropped it off I expected only to need the exhaust repaired, but the lovely mechanic is worried about my clutch. And he's right, because when I did the maths, the car has indeed started showing signs of clutch slip, that is, the bite point is almost at the top of the pedal release and the revs are sometimes rising in high gear for no reason. I am incredibly fortunate that it's so subtle and he noticed right as it went in for its MOT. I am really and truly hoping he can sort it out just by adjusting the cable. But if not, it's going to be New Clutch Time in the new year, an expense I wasn't really hoping for. All in all though, this hasn't been an expensive car, that clutch has lasted 120,000 miles (which is incredible) and of a car that age I think it's reasonable to expect a £300 repair bill every year or so.

Spendy McSpenderson: I finally caved and bought myself Strange Horticulture on sale, and I've been playing in the evenings as my wind-down after work. I highly recommend it, as do nearly all the other people who've played it. You don't even need to particularly like plants. It's just the kind of nice mystery game that you can play in short bursts and you don't need to be a scholar to understand it, and you don't need mad-shooting-skillz, and you don't need a fancy computer to run it.

An Abundance Of Victories

While not having visited the gym nearly often enough to justify its expense, and while also being more active at work, I have lost another two kilos. I also managed to bag an exercise bike for £10 👍 and it's even a folding one, and I managed to adjust my shower so that it's no longer scalding and thus quite adequately functional, so I've quit my gym membership. 👏👏👏

I took myself off to Cheap German Supermarket today and came home with £35 worth of groceries. I also finally received my Australian passport after fighting with ridiculous delays and weeks of postal strikes.

I've had a months' worth of fantastic overtime and although I'm tired, I reconcile this with knowing it helps to claw back against debt. January will be very lean for extra hours and I can relax more then. Right now I reach my 10,000 steps nearly every day.

Next week my car goes in for a repair to its exhaust, as right now there's a small hole somewhere close to the engine. It's hitting zero outside lately and until that repair is done I can't really use my demister, plus it's like sitting in a fridge without that functioning heater. They are also going to replace my wiper, and the globes on my registration plate. My MOT is also booked later in the week. Touch wood that will turn up nothing new. Frugal: I haven't bought any de-icer, I'm just using my trusty plastic scraper to remove the ice from the car windows. Five minutes of workout while the engine is still warming up anyway!

Speaking of cold, both heaters are on, ouch. But since I'm hardly home, I figure I can splash out on them one day a week 😁

Cruisy Day

Coffee with a workmate (and her little angel!) which was really lovely.

For once in her life my manager Ratty was not in a ratty mood tonight. I suppose nothing will be normal for another few days and then the old habits will creep back in for everyone. I also got the chance to have a catch up with Good Boss, he's so great to have a laugh with and I really do appreciate how much he treats me like an equal.

I also had the choice between extending my hours tomorrow or biting the bullet and taking an extra day... I'd rather have had Sunday off work BUT it's better to lose a day off and spend seven tiring hours with Blondie than add three extra unpredictable hours with Ratty tomorrow afternoon. 💁 

I splashed out tonight on a micro spag bol (it was peppery, too sweet, rather expensive and very underwhelming). I was also too lazy to open the bottle of coke I had bought to go with it. Now I'm sat here shivering because I really ought to get under the covers rather than keep the room toasty.