How's your day?

[nonnaB 4,895]

Terrific thunder storm last night. We've now got water in the pool.....rain water. Considering its 8x4 m theres at least 3" of water in the bottom. More delays the builders should have put all the tubes etc in place then connect to the "pozzo" (which holds the filter etc) . Doubt came into my husbands mind about the space between the steps of the pool and the space before the wall. It wasn't sufficient and would have interfered with getting out of the pool. 7cm higher than steps. He phoned the company to come and take a look, they agreed but also said to me " well you wanted a big pool" so I replied " yes we wanted an 8x4 pool including the steps coming into the pool not extending, making the pool 11x4," We kept saying it was larger than 8x4 we thought maybe it was because it was built with blocks of polystyrene, and it was white,  it seemed much bigger than the above ground pool we had that too being 8x4

It wasn't until the thing was constructed that it occurred to us that the size of the pozzo should have gone into the small place. ( surely they should have known the correct measurements when they started) 

However they agreed and now they have to dig again for the pozzo to go to a new site which takes a bit off where we wanted to put bbq and seating . Storms are forecast all week so hope it stays fine at least in the mornings so that at least they can do something.

[catfan 14,793]

Mrs C decided she wanted a new toilet seat, so my afternoon was spent mostly removing the old seat, rusted bolts don't help & was afraid of breaking the loo, they can be quite fragile. I really ought to have had an extending rubber neck & an extra pair of hands to do the job. Spent the last couple of hours gerrin my breath back & a couple of puffs of GTN spray.

Anyway on the plus side I got mesen a few brownie points off Mrs C !

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

They can be a bugger CF we just use the 4 1/2" angle grinder and cut them off.

[DJ360 6,721]

It's nearly raining here.  And it's nearly sunny.  Not sure which way it will go but can't complain after the last couple of weeks.

 

Trench for new drain finally finished and I've dragged a few bags of 'pea gravel' back from B&Q ready for bedding the new pipe.  Just a case of waiting till the plumber can get here with his 'core drill' etc.  Then we just cut through the wall and manhole and route all waste into the new drain via an externally fitted pipe. Fit new WC and concealed cistern etc. then we're 'good to go'... as it were... 

 

Then.. I can get rid of the remains of the internal soil pipe and the huge OTT 'boxing' around it.   When made good, that in turn will allow space for opening and closing a new sliding door to separate Dining room and kitchen..

 

I love it when a plan comes together....

[benjamin1945 16,139]

Quiet day today     in fact quiet week, bored out me brains, turned down Store Tec job,, cheeky gits,,offering less money than i was earning 30 years ago for same job,, if they really want 'Proper people' should pay proper wage.

                       Saw a shoplifter today having it away big time,,an old timer been at it years,,recognised me from by-gone days,,  he said ''oh no''   i said ay-up .....( name) how you doing''?........he then left the store jacket bulging.........looking back at me..........,yes it was in Bulwell,,had nice breakfast, lots of other normal 'Ay-ups',, spent the afternoon reading the History of Catalonia.......like i said boring............

[loppylugs 8,427]

Why didn't you book him, Ben?  

[benjamin1945 16,139]

2 Reasons Lopp,, not doing it for 'nowt'   and quite liked him. LOL,..bad boy i know (hes about 50) but never had a job as far as i know,, so what else can he do,, i know its his own fault,, but he needs some sort of help,, although probably too late,,....having said all that,, i would have 'nicked him'' if i was employed by the company,,if companies write off profits down to shoplifters,, which they do,, and pass the loss down to their customers ,which they do,, that alone is criminal in my opinion.  

ps,       he walked by a SO CALLED Security officer at the entrance/exit,,who was looking at at a security set up on screen,, pillocks,,and the public/customers are paying for him as well,, 

[Martyn 303]

On May 27, 2018 at 8:11 PM, DJ360 said:

Evening!!  Been busy.  Garden. Sun Bathing. Grass Cutting.Trip down the Cavern.. etc..  Just had 2 hours on the phone because No.2 daughter has an infestation of Fruit Flies in her shared house.  Mostly down to some dummy leaving rotten bananas on top of the fridge.. I've told her there is no recorded instance of anyone in the UK being savaged to death by a Fruit Fly, but I'm not sure she's convinced...

 

Trying to get insurance for my trip to Mexico next year.....  Interesting.  I've had quotes from £1000+, to a mere £370.. for two weeks.  A bit more digging needed I think...

Have you tried Expedia. Were going to India in October and got the flights and insurance through Expedia and it was only a couple of hundred $ for health, travel and trip cancellation 

[catfan 14,793]

Take plenty of Imodium, you'll need them !

[LizzieM 9,507]

7 minutes ago, catfan said:

Take plenty of Imodium, you'll need them !

Nowt wrong with that, they are a life-saver for me!!

[Martyn 303]

Its not me that wanted to go (its the Wife). Last time I was there in the late 80’s had to buy a whole load of new underwear

[loppylugs 8,427]

Re.  The shoplifter.  I can see your point Ben.  The system is rigged against the honest guy. He pays for the goods when he gets them.  Then pays extra in the inflated prices.  It's a win, win for so called management.

[nonnaB 4,895]

What a day, it was the day that we took mum into care home. Started badly, when the carer came mum was still asleep so she left her for a while and tried to wake her again, she took her breakfast and she still wouldnt wake up. At this point I felt sure she was faking it. After 2 hours she was awake and refused her breakfast and tablets. Getting to the point she was cross because she had to go into care. I told her not to be so childish, then she said that if she was being childish I was to give her a dummy.

However we took her this afternoon and she sulked all the way. I felt really cruel. After signing papers etc and putting her things away 3 nurses came in and asked her what she wanted to eat. " Fried fish , chips and mushy peas" she said. The nurses burst out laughing the ice was broken. I had to come home to fetch some more things and I found her a different person,  she was calm. 

The home is only a few minutes away from us by car ( within walking distance but uphill all the way) so we can pop in easily. She will have physio twice a week so she seems quite happy ( for her anyway. As I was leaving my son and grandson came in so I think she will have more visitors there than she has at home.

At the moment I feel deflated, my daughter got the evening off to stay with me so we got takeaway pizzas and a tray of pasticcini. Think we really deserved them!

[Martyn 303]

You have my sympathy

[MargieH 7,599]

Nonna, you know it was the right thing to do for your mum and I really hope she will be contented in her new home xx.   

[PeverilPeril 3,279]

Woke up to the news that we have a third Great Grandchild   Boy 10 pm yesterday. Celebrations this evening 

 

It's just late enough to make a lot of noise outside - nailing a tin roof onto the new workshop.

[DJ360 6,721]

15 hours ago, nonnaB said:

What a day, it was the day that we took mum into care home. Started badly, when the carer came mum was still asleep so she left her for a while and tried to wake her again, she took her breakfast and she still wouldnt wake up. At this point I felt sure she was faking it. After 2 hours she was awake and refused her breakfast and tablets. Getting to the point she was cross because she had to go into care. I told her not to be so childish, then she said that if she was being childish I was to give her a dummy.

However we took her this afternoon and she sulked all the way. I felt really cruel. After signing papers etc and putting her things away 3 nurses came in and asked her what she wanted to eat. " Fried fish , chips and mushy peas" she said. The nurses burst out laughing the ice was broken. I had to come home to fetch some more things and I found her a different person,  she was calm. 

The home is only a few minutes away from us by car ( within walking distance but uphill all the way) so we can pop in easily. She will have physio twice a week so she seems quite happy ( for her anyway. As I was leaving my son and grandson came in so I think she will have more visitors there than she has at home.

At the moment I feel deflated, my daughter got the evening off to stay with me so we got takeaway pizzas and a tray of pasticcini. Think we really deserved them!

 

You musn't beat yourself up Nonna.  None of this stuff is easy to deal with and we all have to do our best in unfamiliar territory. I think sometimes we fool ourselves that as adults we should know what to do in any situation.. but of course it's the first time we've been here and there is no instruction manual...

 

My Mum lived alone for many years after my Dad died in 1976 and my brother left home shortly after.  She was fine until she was well into her 80s but then started to imagine that we were all trying to 'put her in a home'.  That was actually the last thing we wanted, and not just because we cared.  We also had a financial interest in Mum staying in her house as long as possible.  However, it got to the point where we realised she was not coping.  I'd find burned out saucepans in the bin and other signs that she was 'losing it'. My late Sister lived just around the corner but was so ill she couldn't really help and we decided to get Mum assessed. 

 

She had 12 weeks in assessment while the powers that be decided what we all already knew.  She had Dementia.  Then it was suddenly diagnosed as Alzhiemer's and the people at the hospital suddenly wanted her out of there and into a home.  They were on the phone to me by the minute, but I stood my ground and told them that it had taken them 12 weeks to decide the obvious and now they just wanted us to 'chuck' Mum into any old care home just to free up a bed. I insisted that Mum was going nowhere until we found a suitable home.  It only took us a week or so.

 

Mum actually went to the care home without much fuss and at first her Sister, my Aunt Betty, was in there with her.  Everyone commented on how well they got on together, but we started to realise that the home wasn't quite as good as it first seemed. It wasn't a 'bad' place, but there were better places.  We arranged to get Mum into a better home, but then Betty wouldn't move with her, because she said she was too settled.  That was difficult because my Mum and her Sister were always very close.. but the dementia seemed to stop them thinking things through.  Mum moved quite readily and her younger sister Betty died shortly afterwards of a stroke.  We didn't tell Mum and she never asked about Betty.  Sadly, my Sister Pam died around the same time.  We didn't tell Mum about that either because we reasoned that it would be very hard for her then she'd forget and we'd have to tell her over again.  She didn't ask about Pam.

 

Eventually we realised that Mum was pretty content if we left her in her 'now' bubble, but that she would get very confused and upset if we tried to get her to remember the past, or think about the future.  after a while she barely recognised any of us. She stayed much the same for another couple of years until she lost her remaining faculties and mobility quite rapidly and died shortly after.

 

I'm pretty sure that Mum would have had a much less pleasant last few years if we hadn't put her into care.

 

Col 

[catfan 14,793]

Talking of age, the other day sat in the Sally Army cafe in Bulwell & got talking to a lady about Bulwell over the years & was amazed when she told me was past 100 years !

Cracking converstion from a dear old lady who still had all her marbles & had a beautiful complexion for one so old.

Must be the Bulwell air !

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

Take note, Mexico can be a very dangerous place these days, even the protected tourist areas, kidnapping is common place, no ransom paid, no body found!! It's chaos south of the border. Most dangerous about a ten mile corridor of the border with the US, regular gang shoot outs with civilians caught between them. Major cities are dangerous places.

This is a country with thousands of murders annually, the drug cartels run the country, the police are the most corrupt in the world!!

It got so bad down there last year the government called out the military to patrol the streets, not that that changed much.

Do a Google for up to date shootings in Mexico, just a pity the worlds media doesn't focus on Mexico, where gun ownership is in criminal hands only. I don't know how many Mayors, Judges, Politicians and Police Chiefs have been murdered, but  numbers in the hundreds.

In one state down there the people rose up in revolt, they obtained automatic AK47's and started taking the law into their own hands out of frustration. After a few local drug Lords and their families had been wiped out the Federal Government sent the army in.

Because the Tourist Industry brings millions of dollars annually, the federal government is whitewashing the situation down there.

The US state department warns any US citizen's going down south, they are on their own, if anything happens they are helpless and cannot provide any assistance.

Personally, if I had the choice of holiday venue between Mexico and Syria, I'd take Syria, it's safer, and they have a civil war taking place.

[Martyn 303]

3 hours ago, PeverilPeril said:

Woke up to the news that we have a third Great Grandchild   Boy 10 pm yesterday. Celebrations this evening 

 

It's just late enough to make a lot of noise outside - nailing a tin roof onto the new workshop.

Congratulations

[DJ360 6,721]

 

 

Well thanks for the encouragement  Ayeup.

 

Of course that view isn't in any way coloured by your loony president's view of every country that isn't the 'Good 'Ole US of A' ?  I mean that fruitloop was trying to justify Gun ownership in the US, by making a big deal out of knife crime in London.   Mad as a box of frogs that bloke. 

 

Quote

This is a country with thousands of murders annually, the drug cartels run the country, the police are the most corrupt in the world!!

 

And apart from possibly the drug thing.. this is not also true of the US?  I wouldn't want to be black in man parts of the US and according to my sources the number of murders in the US is more than 5 times that in the UK.

 

Clearly Mexico has its problems, but I've not heard of too many problems for  UK tourists.  I think if the thousands who visit Cancun an its environs annually from the UK were getting murdered and kidnapped wholesale.. I'd have heard.  And I have read this:

 

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico/safety-and-security

 

From what I hear, The US isn't exactly a safe place either as its citizens seem to love shooting each other. 

 

To be blunt.. nowhere is safe.  Foreign tourists have been murdered on the streets of London and every other city on the planet. 

 

Col

 

 

 

[catfan 14,793]

Many UK cities unsafe too, not gun related but knife crime is at epidemic levels.

[Martyn 303]

On May 28, 2018 at 1:45 PM, nonnaB said:

Terrific thunder storm last night. We've now got water in the pool.....rain water. Considering its 8x4 m theres at least 3" of water in the bottom. More delays the builders should have put all the tubes etc in place then connect to the "pozzo" (which holds the filter etc) . Doubt came into my husbands mind about the space between the steps of the pool and the space before the wall. It wasn't sufficient and would have interfered with getting out of the pool. 7cm higher than steps. He phoned the company to come and take a look, they agreed but also said to me " well you wanted a big pool" so I replied " yes we wanted an 8x4 pool including the steps coming into the pool not extending, making the pool 11x4," We kept saying it was larger than 8x4 we thought maybe it was because it was built with blocks of polystyrene, and it was white,  it seemed much bigger than the above ground pool we had that too being 8x4

It wasn't until the thing was constructed that it occurred to us that the size of the pozzo should have gone into the small place. ( surely they should have known the correct measurements when they started) 

However they agreed and now they have to dig again for the pozzo to go to a new site which takes a bit off where we wanted to put bbq and seating . Storms are forecast all week so hope it stays fine at least in the mornings so that at least they can do something.

Pools are a pain in the ar**. When my kids were younger we had them and even though we had a maintenance contract, each year something would go wrong that would cost money, not allow us to use the pool for a while or require me spending all my Sunday afternoons messing with it. Or all 3. Then to top it off, as the kids got older they would go and hang out at the community pools because it was more fun (just like going to Bulwell Lido). 

I now live in what they call here a zero lot gated community. The front yard is filled with trees, grass and plants and maintained by the community. My back yard will just fit my grill and outdoor table and chairs with some shade trees. I can maintain it while waiting for the meat to cook - perfect.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

I don't think any country compares to Mexico, it's a highly dangerous place, I did say Google for the latest news.

I can assure you all most cities in the US are extremely safe, just do not go into the black areas where black gangs are rife, on the whole cities here are very safe, country areas 100 safe.

I thought I was doing a favour by informing how dangerous a place Mexico is for tourism.

Cancun was considered a convention capitol of the world were companies could hold conventions in relative safety, but even the state and federal governments are losing the battle there, and conventions are down, costing the resort many millions lost.

 

As for DJT, he's the best President this countries had in many, many years, he's kept nearly every campaign promise he's made, show me any politician you can pin that badge on, I can only think of one, Harold Wilson in 74.

[loppylugs 8,427]

Sign of the times.  That's all I'll say.  Getting crazy everywhere and not just since the current president was elected.  That's as political as I'm gonna get.  Some places in our cities were like war zones before he ever came along.

 

Weather's getting crazier too.  We had a rotten thunderstorm last night.  I only got three or four hours sleep.  Sun is out this morning but more forecast for today.  One day hot and humid, the next almost chilly.  Plants in my garden looking burned in spite of the rain.  Yellowstone doing strange things.  Volcanoes around the ring of fire blowing off.  Half the country in a drought.  We have three times the month's average for rain.  Folks getting swept away in their cars in North Carolina.  Beam me up Lord!

 

I'll shake me lugs and go hide under the bed.