In an unpleasant and unwanted turn of events last week I was once again in London.
I’m not really saying I want another pandemic to obliterate travel for work and in person meetings but it was a silver lining in the heaviest of clouds.
I left on Tuesday afternoon on an uncomfortably packed train from Piccadilly and arrived in my “digs” that evening not too far from the Gherkin (not a euphemism).
I doubt that anybody’s company’s travel budget affords them luxury but a London Travelodge is never going to evoke memories of the Yacht Club. I settled into the room desperately trying not to think of everyone else who had slept in that bed and I took in the view.
I was not expecting a glorious vista with herds of wildebeest but perhaps the odd London landmark would have been nice.
With a Tesco Express meal deal secured I returned to the room for an evening of freeview telly and an early night.
The work itself was nothing I wish to recall. It was bad enough going through it once and I escaped the capital around 5pm on Thursday thankfully being able to secure a train an hour earlier than the one I had booked so I got home around 8.30, tired and all Londoned out for the foreseeable. The parking fee at Manchester Piccadilly for those three days will be given our finance folks heartburn for a while I’m sure.
I was very happy (relatively speaking) to be back at my desk at home for work on Friday. Sure it was an unacceptable day of back to back Teams calls but at least I didn’t have to wear proper pants.
Saturday saw me gigging with Mustard down in Knutsford at a 4×4 car festival thing.
Our first outdoor gig of the year, albeit within a marquee. Luckily it was a dry sunny day but as we crept into darkness the temperature dropped and my already average playing skills were tested as I started to lose all feeling in my fingers.
It has been nice to see the sun recently and experience some hint of warmth as the weather improves. I am so tired of being cold. It makes me look forward to our July Mexico trip where we can hopefully forget all the coldness for a couple of weeks and instead moan about it being too hot.
Thankfully next week has no requirement for me to be anywhere for work so it will just be the standard level of horror. Can’t wait.
It’s Bank Holiday season. Damn these pesky four day weeks preventing me from spending all the time I’d like to at work! Since we last spoke it’s been a proper busy time and it whizzed by in extra fast fashion as it was broken up by a visit to London for work. I’m never a fan of work involving leaving my house but it’s becoming more of a thing in recent times as things change at work and it all gets busier.
It was fairly painless as work trips go with a 8am train out from Manchester and a 4.15pm train back out of London with a 3 hour meeting in the middle. So just the 13 hours end to end journey.
Despite the horrific Wi-Fi on the train I even managed to get a little bit of work done on both legs of the journey.
The rest of the work weeks have followed the recent pattern of absolute chaos, back to back meetings all day every day and the feeling at the end of each day that I’ve been run over by a train with a brain that can barely remember how to eat my tea.
There was more travel and leaving the house last weekend too as Louise and I went to see Calamity Jane in Liverpool, which was a recent birthday present from Emily for Louise.
It was funny to watch the show as a million years ago both Louise and I “starred” in a local production of this show. Well, Louise starred as Calamity Jane and I had a slightly less vital role as Joe the bartender, but I feel I added my own unique take to the character.
The lead role was taken by Carrie Hope Fletcher, who you may know is the sister of Tom Fletcher from McFly, both huge Disney fans and regular visitors to WDW. I’m sure both of them read this blog religiously of course as every Disney fan on the planet tends to.
We arrived in Liverpool nice and early and of course immediately had some food. We stumbled across an eatery called Smoke and Dough and were glad we did. It was an unlimited meat platter kind of deal.
They had me at assorted breads.
The main platter was very nice and we could not take advantage of the ability to order any more.
Following our meal, still with time to kill we took the opportunity of being in Liverpool One to do some holiday shopping.
I have secured my holiday slacks. I confirmed my middle aged middle class status but procuring four pairs of summer trousers from M&S. That blew my usual clothes budget for the year.
The day after I was busy mowing and choring around the house and then had to enjoy watching Liverpool secure the league title. All of that was the reason for no post last week. There was just no time. I hope you coped and suspect you didn’t notice.
This week just gone saw a Mustard rehearsal as we enter a busy band time over the next few weeks and of course there were more manic days at work. One day did include a working lunch with a supplier down in Knutsford. The weather was proper summery and we ate outside, lightly toasting my glorious dome.
Tune in next week for, time permitting, more tales of this jet set lifestyle.
Usually, about now, in the standard cycle of our endless Disney trips, I would be elbow deep in all kinds of planning activities. Assuming a summer trip, once we start to see daffodils and daylight beyond tea time it normally feels like a proper sea change in daily life, everything looks literally and figuratively brighter and I undergo self imposed and unnecessary stress about where we might eat in a few months.
Do I miss it, with our plans not involving the US this year? A bit, yes. One of the big benefits of a holiday that takes more than the action of booking it is the continuing dopamine hit of doing the bits of planning that are the milestones in the countdown.
With us heading for Mexico and an all inclusive experience I have nothing to do other than ensure I have the appropriate attire for our activities that might even fit me. On Friday, not being allowed to work, I found myself in the unusual setting of a retail location and did cast my eye over some suitable long trousers for the posher restaurants at the resort which insist on such. After about twenty minutes of pushing things around racks I left with a pack of socks and nothing related to the holiday.
There’s plenty of time yet and I as ever I hold onto the hope that I will lose fourteen stone “in a daaaaay” before July and any wardrobe additions now would be wasted. Socks however, will fit me whatever shape my body is in.
Conversely, not having to keep up to date on all the happenings at our destination to understand what attractions might be closed and what format and price this week’s FastPass system may take is liberating. I’m not saying we’ll make a habit of it but this relaxed approach to going away to relax is definitely a change and in some ways welcome, especially with work being stupidly mad at the moment.
I am even thankful that our chosen resort does not operate a reservation system for their restaurants. I am an animal of extremes! The absolute extent of my pre-holiday activity has been watching the resort post on Instagram.
I really don’t want to wait four years before returning to the US so let’s hope something happens over there to return things to something approaching normality. It may just be my soft lefty liberal echo chamber on social media but I am seeing lots of articles detailing large downturns in tourism to the US. It’s a real shame that ordinary folks in the relevant industries will be affected, unless of course they voted for him, then not so much. Maybe the downturn in numbers will see some keener prices for flights and more offers from Disney and the like, but I suspect any downturn from the UK market won’t be significant enough to make that much of a difference.
So as we enter the season of bank holidays, allegedly higher temperatures (although nobody seems to have told the weather up North), power washing your flagging and unavoidably visiting DIY shops and garden centres I find myself with nothing holiday related to do. It’s different, but I’m not too sure whether that is good or bad different. I am absolutely looking forward to our change of pace and plans, mostly because I am just sick to death of being cold!
I’ll just have to spend the next few months browsing lightweight chinos online I suppose and call that holiday planning.
Another week whizzes by. Work for me was full-on in terms of hours spent, complex stuff to deal with, and having to spend an unwelcome amount of time physically in the office. Insult to injury, indeed. I’ve said it endless times before, but I will say it again: How I did that commute five days a week for decades is beyond me.
There was also a team-building night at Junk Yard Golf in Manchester, followed by a curry. Whilst always grateful to the company for spending money on stuff like that and actually enjoying it to some extent once I’m there, they are not essential for me to want to work somewhere.
Still, I came joint first at the golf and enjoyed the food, so I should probably stop moaning about it and show some gratitude.
Louise has had less fun this week. Having worked last weekend and a good number of days on the trot, she had all this week off and had lots of plans.
Instead, she’s been pretty ill, and we ended up in A&E on Friday evening after her GP sent her there to hopefully get sorted.
Fearing a couple of days in the waiting room, we did OK. She was triaged within an hour and then was given an appointment with a doctor a couple of hours later, so we were able to go home, get some food, and go back at the required time. Another hour or so and we’d seen the doctor and were on the way home with Louise reassured it was probably nothing too serious.
She did have to go back on Saturday to pick up the prescribed painkillers and other drugs as the pharmacy didn’t have them in stock, and they gave her an IOU. Ironicall,y that took longer than the previous evening as she was given duff info about the opening times and spent several hours wandering the hospital, filling out forms, and generally waiting around just to get her hands on the all-important meds.
Hopefully, with those secured, her recovery will be swift. She certainly feels better today than yesterday.
Emily has been away from home doing some house and dog sitting for a friend who has gone on holiday to Italy. This is Pablo.
If this kind of work funded trips to Disney, I think she would happily do it full-time.
I’m still a little concerned for her August Florida trip as the US continues its rapid descent into anarchy and chaos. I know I have, without doubt, over-thought and over-egged potential issues for tourists to the Sunshine State, but it’s clear I’m not the only one, as stats are starting to emerge from the US of sharp declines in tourism this year. Hopefully, that just results in smaller queues and the same trouble-free experience as we are all used to.
It doesn’t feel like this level and rate of chaos can be sustained for four years but what do I know. Often, very little indeed.
Sunday again. Another post to come up with when it was only about six and a half minutes since the last one. Clichés are clichés for a reason and the one about time going by too quickly once you are of a certain age certainly rings true.
At least that brings July closer more quickly and our two weeks away from the work routine and for me a break from ” can you see my screen”, “jumping on a call” and “circling back” to things I didn’t want to deal with the first time round. I’m not doing anything manual or even important but at times it really does burn you out.
For Louise, it’ll be a break from things much more gruesome, somber and depressing of course, but that has never stopped me bemoaning my comfortable office based first world problems.
Aside from work taking up far too high a percentage of last week than I’d like, we also took delivery of the previously teased band video for Mustard. Yeah, another bloody video to inflict upon you. It’s the first with our new singer and we’re pretty pleased with the results. Do not fear, I shall only put you through the short one-minute version. If you want to see the full six-minute marathon you can seek it out.
This weekend has been an uneventful one as Louise is working both days. It has just been me and Bean, our elderly cocker spaniel, as Woody, the sausage dog, has gone with Emily to her boyfriend’s in Liverpool where he has been barking at anything and anyone daring to invade his space as is his way.
Emily often takes him off for weekend adventures and for such a little thing, you wouldn’t believe how much calmer the house is when he’s not around.
Bean. bless her, is getting on a bit now. She’s lost a few teeth and is going a bit grey around the edges but she’s still pretty sprightly and long may that continue. She loves the one-on-one attention when Woody is out of the way too.
My plans for today are not very expansive. I have a few songs to learn for a band rehearsal this evening and a football match to watch, which as a Liverpool fan is equal parts exciting and terrifying in equal measure at the moment, as I want to believe we’re going to win the league but daren’t allow myself to just yet. Bean and I will venture out for a wander at some point too.
In other news, I have seen a fair bit of content online about Epic Universe. Well, to be accurate, I have seen the exact same footage from about a dozen vloggers. I have to admit to being pretty ignorant about the whole thing at this point, having no parks in our foreseeable future. The bits I have seen look impressive, even if I don’t know exactly who some of the characters are. I’m sure we’ll make plans to go at some point, although, if I understand it correctly, the Express thing you get from on-site stays do not apply here which makes it a little less appealing. Once the initial crowds (50% of which seem to be content creators) die away, it’ll be on our list, I’m sure.
If anyone goes in the near future I’d love to hear your take of course.
I shall go and do my chores, learn my songs, walk my dog, and watch my football. Enjoy your Sundays.
As predicted it’s been a busy old week, with work scaling new heights in ways to keep me occupied for more hours than it should. Battered, bruised and breathless I fell over the finishing line on Friday. My task now is to try and come down from the adrenaline and stress of work life so that I can actually relax and enjoy not working for a bit. Look, I know I’m not pulling babies from burning buildings but it has its moments.
As a parting gift, the UK graced us with 48 hours of continuous pouring rain, just to confirm that our decision to go somewhere else for a bit was correct. Also, how cold has it been? It’s ridiculous for late May.
Having eliminated the pouring water inside the house last week, this week it was (mainly) outside. The biggest challenge has been convincing the dogs to actually step foot outside to do their business. Hey and guess what? We have another leak. Whilst Emily was showering on Friday I could hear a dripping noise and yep water was coming down through the kitchen ceiling and probably has been for a while from time to time as there is a faint brown patch around that area. This house hates me. Well, that can wait till we get back and Emily can use our shower until then and the plumber can return, no doubt to cut more holes into this money pit.
Louise finished on Thursday and has been in prep mode since then. There will not be a shop unvisited before departure and somewhere in between all that and me doing two Pink gigs this weekend, we’ll leave the house at some point early on Tuesday with a couple of cases full of what we need, purely down to Louise getting us all packed on Saturday. The bank holiday Monday is well-timed.
Today I have to break my golden rule of never going to the tip at weekend as needs must so we do not leave Emily with a house full of rubbish that has somehow appeared asa result of holiday prep. No I don’t understand that either.
I should probably report in with you all on the weight loss front. It’s been a fairly strict and well-behaved four weeks and depending on what mood the scales are in of a morning it looks like I have shed something like 8 to 10 pounds. It sounds like a good effort but the injustice of that small number compared to the huge effort and time taken is heartbreaking. It also brings home how horrendous I must have looked at my heaviest as even in my new svelte form I will still be scaring folks on the beach.
Let’s see how the calorie sponge that is my body responds to ten days of holiday eating and you can all make your own bets as to whether all of that goes back on.
So we leave on Tuesday morning, so you can expect the usual “I’m at the airport” post on Facebook just to make you all feel happy for me. Right?
Anyway, we have a busy day ahead so I must leave you. As ever, feel free to follow the trip “live-ish” on the Mkingdon Facebook page and you can all look forward to another trip report about sitting in the sun most days followed by what we had for tea (dinner). You lucky, lucky folks.
I know you will have been on the edges of your collective seats after my leak cliffhanger last week. Well, what a palaver it turned out to be.
A non-criminal plumber turned up on Tuesday after much encouragement/badgering and spent a good amount of time scouring our house for the source of this bloody water.
He ended up in all our loft spaces and then cutting holes out of floors and walls to understand what may be happening. He could see some wetness on some stonework through one of the holes he cut but no telltale signs of any burst pipes.
After quite some time he left, giving me the number of a roofer he recommended as he strongly suspected it was coming from the roof above where we were seeing signs of water.
Frustrated, we sat down to dinner (tea) and after that, I thought I would go and try to dry out the wet stonework that had been spotted through the aforementioned hole. I spent a good ten minutes drying stuff out with Louise’s hairdryer (you may be shocked to learn I do not possess one) and then sticking my phone camera through our new hole and videoing what it could see. All of a sudden I spied some fresh-looking water and stretched my arm as far as it would go to video the evidence.
Yep, we had a leaky pipe.
The relief was palpable as I knew that any faffing up on the roof would take weeks and probably not definitively solve anything. I messaged the plumber who said he’d be back the next day to fix it by cutting yet another hole in another section of wall to get to it.
The quality of the camera work is dreadful but I was filming blind with my arm through a hole up to the shoulder, whilst lying on my side.
How a pipe suddenly starts leaking like that when nothing has been able to touch it since it was installed probably decades ago I had no idea, but I feel both incredibly unlucky that this happened to us, but at the same time so fortunate that we happened to cut a hole in a wall in just the right place to eventually allow me to see it.
The plumber did not make it back to us until Thursday, and after giving us another hole in another wall, he replaced the offending pipe. It had a tiny pinprick of a hole in it. He told me that lime in mortar will literally eat copper and the pipes should have been insulated/covered. He replaced it with plastic ones to avoid a repeat. No doubt this won’t be the last time a small prick causes untold carnage and expense.
Now, I just hope all the water damage internally will dry out alright and allow us to get it back to as it was, as well as having to repair all the bloody holes in our walls. This is the current state of play at our house…..
In more pleasant news, Wednesday saw Dougie turn 2. He was spoilt appropriately by everyone and we (me, Louise, Emily, my Mum, Tom, Rebecca, Freddie, Dougie and Tom’s Mum) went out for a meal on Wednesday night to celebrate.
We had a nice meal, the obligatory bad singing, and good cake in what looks like an abandoned restaurant, but there were other folks dining around us.
So now I enter my last week at work before a holiday. It’s always a difficult one, not least as it lasts for about three years, but also as I am desperately trying to prepare my colleagues for the gaping void my absence will no doubt leave, hoping they can somehow manage without me.
Then once that is done there is the chaos and carnage of getting stuff into cases, prepping the house for Emily and Mikey and making sure our zoo has all they need to be kept in the manner to which they have become accustomed. I’m always happy to be at the airport with all that done.
Here’s to a week without further house-based drama, smooth sailing on the holiday prep front and some kind of miraculous three-stone weight loss thrown in for good measure.
I was inundated with a comment recently asking if I still did the Mustard thing. That isn’t some deviant food-based kink, but instead, a band that I have played bass guitar in for almost a decade now. I do and we’ve also started a Pink tribute, so now I gig in both lineups.
For someone of my incredibly average musical abilities, I enjoy playing live and just about manage to keep up with the other members who are much more talented than I am.
Despite playing quite a few gigs each year, I rarely go to any. The reason for that is that most of my gigs are on the nights I would typically go to watch one, but also, it has to be a special gig to tempt me into the palaver of all the traffic, parking and expense involved now in seeing a “proper famous band” at a large venue. I’m not sure The Feeling qualifies as one of those, but the palaver was still decent. When you almost spend as much time getting out of the car park as you did at the gig something isn’t quite right.
I could at this point, spend a while asking how Disney can disperse tens of thousands of vehicles out of one exit seamlessly and yet a multi-story in Manchester is in gridlock from 10.30 till midnight. I won’t do that though.
Despite all those trepidations, Louise and I made the effort last night. We went to watch The Feeling at the Albert Halls in Manchester. I will include a humble brag at this point, that I too have played that venue with Mustard. Granted it was a Thursday night at some Architects awards bash and the audience was a little less interested in us, but still I’m claiming it. It is genuinely awesome to play venues like that as they have incredible gear and top professional sound guys who make you sound fantastic and take away all the stress.
Anyway, The Feeling is a band that both Louise and I really like. They are the perfect blend of catchy pop tunes, great musicianship and consistency. It was a great gig.
Away from Rock ‘n roll, I have continued to eat less than I would normally and have shed a pound or so more. If I keep this up over the next two weeks I should have bought enough runway to eat what I like on my hols so that I return only as fat as I was a few weeks ago, staring down the barrel of having to lose it all over again at some point.
I am cursed with a metabolism so slow it is a wonder I continue to exist and I only have to look at food on the internet and I put weight on. It is a constant struggle and if I were to ever meet a Genie and get three wishes, one of mine would be to be able to eat whatever I liked but remain at my ideal BMI, which I don’t think I have ever been in all my years on this planet.
Anyway, we’ll be going away whatever weight I am and the cases are out now and safely stowed in a spare room until the packing commences whenever Louise gets around to it. I shall be summoned to try on and select the stuff I want to take and we’ll both say we won’t take a lot of stuff but inevitably overpack and carry a load of clothes both ways over the Atlantic having not worn them.
I am of course ready for the break. I always say that and of course were we not lucky enough to be able to have this booked I am sure I would survive without it, but some time away from the stresses of daily life will be lovely.
The latest thing that I was over-anxious about was a leak in our house last week. Louise spotted a wall in the utility looking damp and after a lot of moving stuff around and swearing, it looked like the outside tap on the other side of the wall must be leaking within the cavity between the stonework and the internal wall.
There was no chance of me getting to it and of course there was no isolation switch fitted on that outside tap so we sat with the water off completely for most of Friday waiting for the plumber to come and attend to what was a quick job for anyone less incompetent. When you need someone to come out quickly, the quality of their work is often the sacrifice and whilst he did indeed disconnect the suspected pipe, charging me what he did for literally 30 seconds of work upset me both financially and from the point of view that was I even slightly competent, I could have done that myself. Anywho, he will never darken our door again.
On Saturday I noticed that the wall was still wet and indeed the issue was not resolved. I spent most of the morning trying to diagnose what the hell was happening, whilst messaging our regular plumber who has agreed to come out asap next week to have a look. The problem may be located in the ceiling above it. These things stress me out more than I can tell you, as my brain defaults to worst-case scenario mode and I have visions of re-plastering and endless damage as a result of any fix, not to mention the expense. These fears are always based on a complete lack of knowledge of these matters and at times like these I miss my Dad’s advice and personal black book of any tradesman you could ever require. He had golfed with every trade on the planet.
As you will know from my well-documented roof struggles a few months ago, nothing stresses me out more than water getting into the house where it shouldn’t be. By the way, in the end, I went up on the roof (I was terrified) and fixed the issue. Well, water is no longer coming in. How permanent that fix will be, who knows.
Hopefully, I will bring you a post about how silly I was to be worrying about it all next week.
The week of Halloween is typically spent celebrating Freddie’s birthday. This year was no different. It was inevitable, with Rebecca being his Mum, that Freddie is a huge Halloween fan. Rebecca makes sure the house is fully decorated and when the day itself comes, they are appropriately attired to do some candy gathering.
With the spooky season done, it was then time to move on to his birthday and the serious business of turning six. On the day itself, he was overwhelmed with presents, taken to a play area and the cinema, and then on Saturday, we joined him and his classmates at another play area for his official party.
He’s had a good birthday and a good week! He deserves it as he is just a lovely soul. He’s kind, clever, considerate and really funny. Clearly, my genes run strong!
Our kitchen remains unchanged from this time last week. We are waiting it seems for some drawers to be resized to fit into our island, accommodating our fancy new extractor that is in our hob. I say it seems, as getting any form of reply from our fitter has proven to be a bridge too far since we saw him last. Frustration levels are high as we still sit in the 95% completion zone, not yet able to get things “back to normal”. Hopefully, it’ll all get sorted out next week before we go away or there will be a falling out.
Speaking of which the cases came out this week. A little early, but I was in the outhouse getting a cat carrier out for THE most expensive visit to the vets in recorded history and I thought I’d grab the cases whilst I was in there to save me a further trip a few days later.
We’re taking two large cases as normal, despite only doing ten days as one of these trips I would like to not have to stress for the last few days about how we are going to get everything we have acquired back home.
I’ve also been helping Emily plan a WDW trip for next March. She is going with her boyfriend and a couple they are friends with. As one of their friends is a teacher they have to go at a really expensive and busy time, so finding flights that are not laughable has been a challenge. Emily is now planning out the days and is finally appreciating the high degree of expertise and responsibility involved in doing so!
None of the others have been before, so the pressure is on. They literally could not be in better hands as long as they submit to her will and plans. Right?
So I’ll see you back here next week for a pre-flight post.
I know this is a ridiculous thing to say after the last couple of years, but I need a bloody holiday!
A mixture of our leaky roof saga (now resolved) and our never ending kitchen refit (about 95% done), along with some work stuff that would try the patience of a saint, I am frazzled. It feels like we have been living amidst chaos for far too long.
I know it is physcological, and if I did not have an imminent trip booked I would probably feel less deperate for it, but here we are.
The worst news of last week was discovering that The Cheesecake Factory have stopped using Yelp for their reservations and now they insist on a US phone number to do any table booking. This means I will have to do an actual phone call to the restaurant once we’re in Orlando to book us a table. I know I could do it now, but that would add unacceptable pennies to the bill of thousands for this holiday so I won’t of course.
All this activity, choas and kerfuffle has meant that over the last few weeks and months I haven’t really watched any Florida vlogs. I have managed a couple recently to discover that The Trackers are clearly billionaires now and Mr Morrow has shifted his views per video from the 30,000 bracket to the 100,000 bracket. Good luck to them both.
It did dawn on me whilst watching one showing Mr Morrow spend about $300 in Gideon’s that when we are there in mid-November I think all the Christmas stuff will be up. Not that we will be in a park of course, but it will be nice to see that at Disney Springs and any resorts we go to.
Halloween starts in August and Christmas on November 1st I would assume.
With a flurry of activity late last week in our kitchen we were hoping it would be done. We had multiple trades in the room at the same time on Thursday and Friday and enough got done to get us a functioning kitchen and we can now start to think about putting the house back together again. Maybe by next week it’ll be really finished and in a state fit for some photos that I can share.
My hatred for the disruption of this type of stuff going on in the house only grows deeper every time we do it.
On Saturday we had Dougie stay over with us as Rebecca and Tom took Freddie away to Drayton Manor for an early birthday treat. He is trouble in human form but also a little love and we dutifully spoiled him rotten.
I had a long arranged gig so Louise was on main duty until this morning.
Freddie had a blast too.
Now for some rest before the madness of whatever next week brings starts.
It has been a bit of a week. Hectic is how I would describe it, with some chaos thrown in for good measure.
I was in the office on Monday and Tuesday. I don’t think I have done two days in the office in a row since February 2020. It hurt, and if, as The Daily Mail may have you believe, the whole country is working from home now, why did my commute take longer than it did pre-pandemic? I will not be repeating that in a hurry.
Our roofer finally turned up on Monday and got to work stopping our living room wall resembling Niagra Falls. He didn’t come Tuesday as it was raining, but thankfully by then he had found and fixed the bit that was causing all the trouble and we were watertight.
He was back later in the week to do the bulk of the work and said he should finish tomorrow. It will be an (expensive) weight off my mind but “Winter is Coming” (we are currently almost done with a complete rewatch of Game of Thrones, and we had forgotten most of it, so it has been very enjoyable) and I will sleep easier knowing we have sorted what has been a troublesome part of the house since we moved in.
Whilst that went on in one part of the house, the kitchen continued to be a scene of chaos. Our fitter was back for a day, followed by the electrician, and then on Friday, the men came to take away everything that is to be resprayed. We are keeping most of our existing cabinets, adding a few more, and have new worktops. That may have reduced costs slightly, but we seem to have opted for the “longest possible disruption” option.
We have a working hob and oven but still no sink and all our cupboards have no doors. I thrive in this chaos!
Then on Thursday evening, I was out at a Mustard gig, (yes I still do the band thing) and we were playing at the after-party for an awards do in Manchester. It was a star-studded affair if Kris Akabusi presenting the awards fits that description. We did not actually attend the awards ceremony so missed his hurdling-related high jinx (he was a hurdler right?) and we were just celebrity adjacent, knowing he was somewhere in the same venue. It was a building awards event and we had a good night but it was a very late one for a school night!
Then on Friday morning, I had to go to the dentist, just for a check-up but it was lovely to hear that I have gum disease, just to confirm that I am old and decrepit.
Speaking of rubbing shoulders with celebrities, whilst on Facebook the other day I spotted a clip from Phoenix Nights. Whilst nobody other than me and Louise would ever spot it, there in the background in the dressing room at the club (real name, St Gregory’s in Bolton) was Louise’s promo from when she was doing the club circuit in the late 90’s. Acts performing at a club would always leave their photo/promo on dressing room walls. Don’t try to click the arrow to play the video, I just grabbed a screenshot so you could really appreciate the blurry thing that may or may not be what I said it was.
It was a club we regularly visited on the circuit and it is exactly as the show depicts it, as were (and probably still are) most of the other clubs too. That dressing room is as “roomy” as it looks and most were also filled with all the crap the club didn’t have anywhere else to put, such as broken bingo machines, the Play Your Cards Right game, and the Hoover. Endless glamour it was not.
Unrelated to anything else, it’s been a while since I inflicted any photos of our endless pets on you, so here are some from when Emily took Woody to a pumpkin patch yesterday.
He’s almost 18 months old now and I suppose it is safe to say he’s here to stay and part of the family.
I am ever hopeful that by the time I post here again, we may have a fully fixed roof and a kitchen approaching something like normality. It’s this naivety that is both stupid and admirable in equal measure.
We are now less than a month from our Orlando holiday (we’re still not doing any WDW parks!) and I am ready. I did ask Louise if I could get the cases out yesterday as I was going to the outhouse in which they are stored for some other reason but I was denied.
On Facebook, the local community pages just seem to be a load of boomers mooning over photos from the old days when rickets and 10-year-old chimney sweeps were a thing, yearning for a return to those golden times.
“Oh look how full our town centre was and how many great shops there were,” they say before going to the door to collect their 4th Amazon delivery that week.
I can enjoy memories of the past without always thinking that today is bobbins and yesterday was always better because it wasn’t.
Having said that I am a bit of a sucker for some WDW nostalgia and this week some was sent to me that I feel compelled to share. As you know I am on close personal terms with all the high-ups at Disney, and they all read my blogs you know, and every now and again a Disney Imagineer that I know through a friend will send me some good stuff. I don’t know how much I can say about this Imagineer but I will tell you he was heavily involved in the recent project to design and build that real lightsaber you may have seen showcased at a recent D23. It is annoying that he seems to have the job I would like. It’s only a lack of relevant qualifications, experience, and about 4,500 miles that stand in my way.
Anyway, this week I received this gem from him of WDW in 1973.
It’s funny how some things look unchanged and some unrecognisable and that I suppose is the sweet spot for WDW to achieve. I was 3 when this was filmed, and aside from most of the people in the film now being dead of course, I wonder what they would have made of how things are now.
Have a watch if you can spare the time. It’s like being wrapped in a warm blanket.
This video, as lovely as it is, has not altered our intention of not visiting any parks in November. Part of the deal of going back to Orlando was to do so on the same budget as Egypt would have been, and with WDW park ticket prices as they are, they would be a deal breaker. Honestly, though, I have no real desire to do so either. That would change the entire trip’s dynamic and “planner Craig” would kick in and I’d be setting alarms for 6.50 a.m. to secure virtual queues and Lightning Lanes and then dragging Louise from one end of the park to the other because a ride we’ve ridden six dozen times only has a twenty-minute queue.
It’s enough that our entire eating itinerary is laid out already. It’s best not to awaken that beast.
The plan remains unchanged from last week, mainly as the week just gone has been an absolute shitter at work and with the house so I haven’t had the time or mood to be looking at it. It’s probably for the best.
Next week doesn’t look to be shaping up any better. I have to be in the office for two days in a row, which post-pandemic is an absolute insult and horror show and we have (the promise of) multiple workmen being in and on top of our house too. I can’t wait.
That last night of the trip was taunting me in its blankness, sat there on my plan, goading me to book something. What do you mean I could have not booked something and just gone with the flow?
I had thought I’d book somewhere around the Boardwalk but didn’t in the end. The Edison got the nod and that last remaining blank space is filled.
I looked at a few places and really wanted to try somewhere new. The menu and experience look pretty good based on what I read and watched so it’s booked and we’ll see how it goes.
Thanks to those suggesting things last week. Whilst we didn’t book to dine there, I did discover from one suggestion that there is another Jellyrolls style dueling piano bar at City Walk, in Pat O’Briens so we’re going to try and give that a go one night when we have dining planned at City Walk.
I’m now in that countdown hinterland, where no further planning is needed and it isn’t time to go to the airport yet. This feeling is probably why the plan will change before we go but it’s all part of the experience, right?
Away from holidays, our roof is still leaky, but now we know what it may cost for it not to be so. The figure is so large I cannot speak its name. Where we live, on the edge of the moors, where rain only happens 23 hours out of every 24, and when it comes, it comes sideways, we cannot risk not having a waterproof roof. We now sacrifice things at the altar of Sarah Beeny in the hopes of bringing the roofer to our property to actually do the work. There are rumours he may be with us “mid next week”. We shall see.
Our kitchen is more battlefield/bomb site than kitchen, and we spend our days working around the carnage and trying to tempt workmen back into the house to get it progressed. If someone were to condemn me to my own personal hell this would be it.
Oh and for good measure yesterday the washing machine broke so I had to find another workman to come into my house and relieve me of some money. Of course, despite not even being two years old, it is unfixable and we have to get a new one. Kerching!
Emily had her own troubles last week, finally catching Covid after all this time. There’s a lot of it around. She’s been quite poorly with it and is only now starting to feel anywhere close to normal again, but still testing positive almost a week later. Last weekend she attended two Busted gigs in Liverpool and Manchester arenas plus the work event I told you about down in Cardiff, which was attended by around 2,000 people, so it’s almost certain she got it at one of those. She’s been too ill to leave her bedroom for most of the week so protecting Louise and me from infection has been fairly easy.
Writing about trip planning and Covid takes me right back a couple of years to when all I did was plan trips that got canceled and moan about the handling of the pandemic.
Louise and I went to see Busted with her last Sunday too in Manchester and it was very enjoyable. We got Hanson included in the price of the ticket and here they all are performing one of my favourite songs.
All is well with Rebecca, Tom and the boys. Freddie is excited about his upcoming sixth birthday to which he has invited his whole school class. Sensibly, it will be held at a local play area. Dougie, who is 18 months old now, is starting to walk which only adds to the fun of daily life for Rebecca. He is a little bit more of a handful than Freddie was!
We are off out for tea with them later, along with my Mum who is doing OK, despite feeling a bit lonely at times. Adjusting to life without your husband after so many decades together must be difficult.
So there ends a post with a nice mixture of trip planning and life updates. I feel really out of practice in writing non trip report blogs so let’s hope something (good and not expensive) happens in the next seven days to give me something to droan on about.
As I fired up WordPress to write this week’s post, I instinctively reached for my trip report note-taking book. What do you mean you don’t have one of those?
For inexplicable reasons, I am currently using one bought on The Disney Wish for more money than I care to confess.
However, I find myself in the unusual position of not having any such notes to write from. We have been fortunate/irresponsible enough of late that I have had many trips to write up and having to go free form this week is all a bit alien.
I know many of you may be thinking I’ll be telling you about the next trip we have booked in this post. I’d hate to be so predictable.
Well, a few months ago we were discussing when we may get away again and the need for a short winter break somewhere warm. So yes, in November Louise and I are heading off for a 10-day sunshine break that will definitely not involve WDW parks!
It’s trickier than you might imagine finding somewhere to go that will be warm at that time of year that doesn’t involve a stupidly long flight for just 10 days away and doesn’t cost the earth.
Many hours were spent on the internet, researching and planning, dismissing the obvious Mediterranean spots as the temperatures were just too low and unreliable in November. The Caribbean was pricey, as of course were far-flung spots that we can only really dream of affording such as The Maldives.
Eventually, it looked like Egypt would be the winner and specifically Sharm El Sheik. I knew nothing about the place but gradually got to know the lay of the land and almost every detail of every hotel in our price range. I won’t admit to how much time I invested on Google Street View “wandering” the local area. Once you are a holiday-obsessed planner there is no turning back regardless of the destination. It seemed to have all we needed.
• Hot weather • All-inclusive resort • Some nightlife suitable for two tired 50-somethings
Louise would have liked to see the Pyramids but we quickly discovered they were a 5-hour drive away!
A hotel was pretty much decided upon and much time was spent obsessing over the reviews and the 1% of them that were not great, naturally ignoring the 99% that were.
This is the thing when going somewhere unfamiliar, especially on All Inclusive, as if something isn’t right you are stuck there for the duration. Due to this uncertainty, my finger continued to hover over the “Book” button rather than commit, terrified of throwing a chunk of cash at something we may have to endure rather than enjoy.
Anyway, Louise and I chatted and we went ahead and booked.
We’ll be arriving in Florida on November 13th.
Look, it was Louise’s fault. We discussed the Egypt thing and the risk of it being not all we may wish for, especially the food and potentially getting bored of the same menu every night and having to go out and eat in unknown places. At this point, Louise suggested Las Vegas, and that was the slippery slope to Florida as we were already in the right country at that point. Vegas was too far, and too expensive for what was a short winter break and that led me to pitch the idea of Florida. I wouldn’t class myself as a natural salesperson, although, inexplicably, I did support the family as one many years ago. The pitching was not too arduous before agreement was reached.
Bear with me. What we wanted was nice weather, great food, and guaranteed quality of resort and restaurants. We had no need (or real desire to be honest) to venture near any theme parks, we could just sit by a pool and then at night choose from limitless eateries, many of which we knew would be excellent. There is also suitable nightlife for us in the shape of Jellyrolls, Yeeha Bob, City Walk, Disney Springs, etc and we know where everything is. It took all the risk and worry out of what is intended to be a relaxing respite from the winter back home.
See, it made perfect sense.
Cost-wise, it would be no different from the Egypt option we were looking at. It is out of any school holiday period which keeps costs down and cheapo flights are booked in Economy with Aer Lingus. A sensible car, (and car hire prices seem to be settling finally as we got a Compact SUV for £380 for 10 days), and hotel-wise we have been very practical and pragmatic, avoiding Disney resorts despite our love of all things Yacht and Beach Club.
After a decent amount of research, I decided on the Drury Plaza Hotel near Disney Springs.
This was for a few reasons.
• Location – We can walk to Disney Springs and it is central to anywhere we may want to drive to. • Price – It was very reasonable, especially as the price has no add-ons like resort fees and your room cost includes a free buffet breakfast and a form of happy hour in the evening where you get three free drinks per guest and some complimentary food (I suspect we won’t use the latter too much). • Reviews – Almost all good across the board and the place is pretty new so everything should be in good condition.
So I apologise for the predictability of this post. We really did try to go somewhere else, honest! I can honestly say I have no desire to go to a WDW park on this trip. However, should we encounter a chillier day or two and not be able to sunbathe by the pool, we may go to Bush Gardens for the first time in years or even Sea World, who knows, but they don’t count!
With perfect timing for this week’s post, our ADR window opened last week and I have booked our first at Sanaa on the evening of our first full day. There is no distance too great for that bread service.
There won’t be too many ADRs made as we love so many off-site places, but we may try a few new eateries at Disney Springs with it being walkable from our hotel. If anyone has any “must-dos” there I’m all ears.
With another trip done and written up, what the hell do I write about now? Hmmm…
Well, I like to plan, you know that, and I am fairly good at it, but where I find myself now, with the perfect synchronisation of the end of my latest trip report last Sunday, leaving just one Sunday free for a blog post to confess to you all that we are going again, was pure luck.
Yep, we fly out to Orlando again on Tuesday. We booked in late February and timing it perfectly, as far as these Sunday ramblings go, I unconsciously left myself the perfect one-week window to allow you all to collectively eye-roll at the news.
We really didn’t mean to go. I don’t mean that I fell over and landed on my keyboard, pressing several “Book It” buttons all at once. It was less accidental than that, but not by much.
As we returned from the trip you’ve just read about we had some tentative, back-of-the-mind intentions to maybe go on holiday, maybe to Orlando, maybe not, just Louise and I, around September time, but there was no planning going on.
For those who actually read this stuff and pay attention, you may remember that Rebecca, Tom and the boys had booked to go this April, but for boring real-world reasons, they had to postpone/cancel that trip. Well, we got chatting and the idea of all going together (alas Emily had used all her holiday entitlement on other trips with her boyfriend) at some point came up. Initially, as we often do we looked at non-US destinations. As ever, we inevitably drifted back to Florida due to its familiarity and the guarantee of it suiting us and particularly the boys.
We started looking for Florida trips at the end of August into September and spent many minutes laughing at the prices. When did the prices for school holidays become so ludicrous? We went for years at the end of August and we were skint! Hmm, maybe that’s why we were skint.
We then started to work our way back through the summer, trying to find dates that would work for everyone. To cut a very long story short, we had limited options and it ended up being May.
To be honest, May was probably too early for us, and certainly too early for Louise and another trip to WDW, but the carrot of being able to go with Rebecca, Tom and the boys and to see Freddie and Dougie experience Florida overcame all sticks easily.
The compromise was that Louise insisted that we spend a week at a beach. This kicked off the most complex trip I have ever organised, as a week at the beach wouldn’t suit a five-year-old and one-year-old, so I began the process of planning multiple itineraries within one holiday.
Flight-wise, the lowest cost was the order of the day, so Aer Lingus won this time and we are all in economy on the 16th of May. As we have a lap sitter in our party in Dougie, I was unable to book our seats online, but their WhatsApp service was excellent and that was sorted in minutes.
The basic plan was to get a villa for most of the stay, but Louise and I would go off to the beach for a week, with Rebecca and the crew joining us there for a night or two, before they would return to Orlando for theme parking. Alas, our favourite villa was not available for our dates, so we chose what we hope is the next best thing from Airbnb.
In a strange and not to be repeated turn of events Louise chose our accommodation at the beach. I had wanted to go to Vero but hens have more teeth than they had availability, so we opted for a previous destination in Daytona, and Louise did five minutes of searching and informed me we would be staying at the Hard Rock there. Rebecca, Tom and the boys would join us for a couple of days at the beach and then return to Orlando and the villa.
Then, to finish off the trip, and to use up the three-day park passes still owed to us by Hurricane Ian, we booked to stay at our usual place, Royal Pacific at Universal.
I secured us a mini-van and would later return to the issue of how Louise and I would get back from Daytona to Orlando as Rebecca and Tom would be taking our main car back to Orlando with them.
It was about a week after sorting all this, (which I have massively over-simplified above by the way, please show some respect for my planning skills), that Louise and I chatted and thought we should invite my Mum along. Clearly, the complexity of the trip was not sufficient to test my planning expertise.
Mum took a little convincing, unsure about undertaking her first trip without my Dad, but was soon on board when we asked her what Dad would have said! It’s been a while since she has been to Florida and for her and let’s face it for all of us, who knows when that trip might be your last. They are physically demanding so making hay in the sunshine is important.
So I then went about adding Mum to the flight and messaging Aer Lingus to change all our seats again from two sets of three to a four and two, booking her a room at Daytona (she will come with us to the beach) and finally adding her onto our room at Royal Pacific. We will share for the few nights we are there to avoid huge expense.
Park tickets and then of course park reservations were bought and made for all.
One of the most complex issues now presented itself. The car.
With seven people now on the trip and with car seats and strollers and oodles of luggage, the standard seven-seater van we had reserved would not cut the mustard. With every seat taken, there was just no way we would fit all that into the thing. That kicked off a ridiculous amount of time looking at alternatives, some of which would involve me getting my HGV licence, but the answer was presented by Rebecca, who suggested I look at what car we got the last time we had 7 people on the trip.
Finally, I found a use for my obsessive trip reporting and went back to that trip and found the make and model of what we had. On that trip, we also had a stroller and all that goes with a small child so we could be fairly sure it would all fit.
Of course, none of the main car hire sites listed this 8-seater Toyota Sienna, so I reached out to Andy at Discount Florida Car Hire, who I had booked with and explained our predicament. He was incredibly helpful and located one and secured it for us via Dollar. What an 80’s pop duo are doing in the hire car business I do not know.
Hopefully, we are all sorted now as I didn’t fancy driving a 12 or 15-seater thing, especially as Tom would be driving it around for a week during his first time driving in Florida.
I have even booked the three beachgoers a car for a few days in Daytona, crucially giving us a means by which we can drive back to Orlando. For our first two days in Daytona, we will all be together with Rebecca, Tom and the boys then driving back to Orlando at the end of day two, after watching the baseball, which we have always enjoyed in the past. Once the three of us are done with Daytona a few days later, we will drive back to Orlando, drop our hire car at the WDW car centre and have Tom pick us up before heading to check in at Universal.
So, I think that’s everything?? Still with me? Complicated isn’t it?
If anyone still has any appetite whatsoever for another bloody trip report, and even I barely do, I’ll be back here in June popping another one out. I can only apologise.
As ever, the Mkingdon Facebook page is your source of any live updates during the trip and I’ll see you back here in June if you can stomach any more of the same old guff.
What is this madness? Two posts in one day? Often it takes a superhuman effort to squeeze out one, but we are mid-trip report, so my weekly nonsense about what is happening in life (and as ever, there is a fair bit going on) isn’t a thing. So I just wanted to share an update with you as it relates to the main reason this blog exists.
Despite only recently returning from our “couples retreat” trip in September, we have booked to return to Orlando, this time taking Emily along with us. Rebecca, Tom and the boys are already booked to go in April/May so Florida is getting its fill of Williams dollars it seems.
Oddly, I feel some sort of need to justify this ridiculous extravagance. Let me confirm, we are not very rich, just really irresponsible!
Before I share the plan, the reasons for the trip are many and include –
First and foremost of course, we want to go again.
Fantasmic is back and it needs watching. Or at least we need to go and try to watch it and no doubt end up disappointed.
Our last trip, as much as we enjoyed it, and we really did, was beset with three days of a hurricane and of course Mary’s sad passing, so we feel like some of that trip was lost or impacted.
My Dad isn’t in the best of health these days, and along with Mary’s passing, both Louise and I are firmly in the “f**k it” mindset of doing stuff we want to do whilst we are fit and able to do it. All too soon it will be too late.
With one thing and another we’ve had a tough year or so and, well, as I say, f**k it.
We asked Emily if she’d like to come along as she’s not been since last January and has severe withdrawal symptoms. With saving for her own place being a priority for her now, she would be unlikely to return under her own steam for a while.
So enough apologetic justification for doing what we want to do. What is the plan?
We go on the 9th of January. We are flying with Virgin this time and managed to get Premium both ways for an acceptable price. We like Aer Lingus a lot, but they only offer Business Class as an Economy alternative and that is big money for the three of us. Premium is a decent halfway house between Economy and Business so they got our business this time.
We are staying at Caribbean Beach for seven nights to start. This resort was selected mainly due to the Skyliner, as it will enable us to visit our beloved Boardwalk of an evening without the need to drive. It’s a cheaper alternative to staying at one of the Boardwalk resorts but still allows us to do what we love to do there.
Yes, this time we are definitely going to do the WDW parks. January is not a time of year to depend on there being sunbathing weather, so the plan is to do Disney.
Even though Louise and I have three days of Universal tickets to use from our last trip, due to Hurricane Ian, we aren’t doing Universal on this trip as there isn’t time. Why you may ask?
Well for the first time ever we are doing a Disney Cruise. We move from Caribbean Beach to the Disney Wish for a four-night cruise to Nassau and Castaway Cay. Being a walking contradiction, Louise suggested/insisted we do this despite having told me for the last few decades that she would never do a cruise.
Had we added Universal to the plan then we would have been in a park every day and that way lies tiredness and a lack of enjoyment.
After the cruise, we then move back to Orlando to finish with three nights at the Yacht Club, where despite my nightly prayers, I suspect we won’t get another upgrade to Club Level. Go on Disney, you know it makes sense!
I honestly didn’t plan this but it seems if I continue to write up the last trip at the current rate, the last day will get posted the day before we go on the next trip. This is ridiculous, extravagant and at the same time awesome.
We’ve been watching a fair few Tracker vlogs recently as they now seem to live on the Disney Wish, so I feel we have a decent amount of knowledge about the cruise experience and The Wish, but as we were starting from zero knowledge, of course, if there are any cruise experts reading this, your tips and advice would be most welcome. Ditto Caribbean Beach.
So far our plans include dining at Il Mulino again, Yak & Yeti whilst in DAK and a brunch at somewhere new to us, City Works at Disney Springs. We also plan to spend another evening with Yeeha Bob.
It feels weird to be one of those folks who have multiple trips per year, but I come back to the recurring theme of this post, f**k it, you’re a long time dead.
We’re back and many of you will have seen the news that Mary, Louise’s Mum, passed away last Sunday. Whilst not unexpected, it is of course very upsetting, especially for Louise as we couldn’t get back in time to be with her. Mary was not alone as she passed, and of course, there were video calls where love was shared and tears were shed.
The past week has been a blur of my return to work and the non-stop flurry of activity and arrangement-making that happens when a funeral is needed. There is a surprising amount of things to do and I have been fortunate up until now that I have never needed to be involved in anything like this. The funeral will be on the 20th, and we have made a lot of the arrangements now.
So it won’t be too surprising that I have not given any thought to anything as pointless as writing about our holiday. I probably will at some point. As trivial and silly as it may sound we had a good time for most of the trip aside from the usual array of eventful happenings that seem to come with us on holiday. Our time away included a flooded kitchen, a natural disaster, a death and a hospitalisation!
For now, the focus is on Louise, the funeral and coming to terms with Mary’s passing.
Thank you to everyone who left messages and love on Facebook about Mary. They are appreciated.
Confidence levels that we will get on the plane – Low to Moderate
It has been a stressful old week. Work has been ridiculous but more importantly, until late afternoon on Thursday, we had no respite care booked for Mary. If this were as easily obtainable as hen’s teeth, dipped in unicorn semen, we would have fared better. Louise has spoken to every care facility in the North West, and each one had some new and interesting reason why they could not help us, or it was a dump. We were getting worried.
Anyhow, on Thursday I got the call from Louise that her lastest and last visit to a nursing home had paid off, and Mary was booked in. With this news in the bag, I allowed the release of the suitcases from whichever dark hole they had been stashed into since January and the packing has begun, I am led to believe.
The limited belief that we might go away has risen slightly but not to any level that allows excitement to build. This may be the case until we are wheels up from the runway, at the obligatory half an hour later than the take-off time planned. How I long for a holiday that can be booked with the confidence that it will actually happen. It will be a fraught week to come, as we keep everything crossed that Mary remains in a state of health conducive to going on her holidays to the nursing home.
I am getting so paranoid about travel now that every news event is considered a potential barrier to it happening. Of course, I have persistent low-level fear that the airport will be packed and queues horrendous, and/or the airline will cancel our flight at the last minute, but yesterday when the Queen’s funeral was announced for the day we should be travelling, I spent a panic filled few minutes on google trying to figure out if some ancient custom would mean flights might be affected. I know it’s silly, but I am scarred by the last three years of uncertain plans.
These restrained levels of excitement have probably played a part in my resisting making any more ADR bookings. It is one less thing to cancel should it come to that. I would make an exception for O’hana still, as I would like to tie that in with an evening on the Poly beach watching some fireworks and maybe some Trader Sam’s, but the respite care of the North West had more availability it seems. I am getting a bit weary of having to try so hard to “do things” on Disney property. I yearn for the days when all you had to do was pay a small fortune.
In other news, Freddie completed his first week at school and enjoyed it. More importantly, Rebecca is now past the trauma of him going to school for the first time! There were tears.
Dougie rolled over for the first time and has teeth incoming, and at this rate will be at University next week, and I completed ten years of service at my current employer. I arrived home from the office on Thursday to a huge Fortnum and Masons hamper. It is a lovely place to work, assuming you have to work somewhere (and I do), and Louise was very excited, not so much by the contents of the hamper, but more the hamper itself becoming a high-class repository for our Christmas decorations for years to come.
My Dad is coping OK following his release from the hospital but isn’t in the best of health and our work of course is still not complete, with the eternal promise of “tomorrow” being the completion date. That “tomorrow” should have been Saturday and then today, but naturally is once again “tomorrow”.
We have a bit going on as you can see, and if we ever exist in a chaos-free world again, I’m not sure I would know how to deal with it.
Still, on the plus side, only one more week of this unbearable wailing in blog form to endure before we all know either way. I’m off to rock back and forwards in a corner for quite some time.
It will not be a huge shock to you that the ongoing work at the back of our house is still exactly that. Some progress was made, followed by a delay awaiting more materials, then some more progress. My guess last week, that aiming and hoping for completion around the end of August seems sensible, and it remains a possibility for now at least. There was crazy talk from our builder of being finished by next Tuesday or Wednesday but this isn’t my first rodeo.
I bemoaned the fact last week that this time in August has always been our WDW time. My social media confirmed that this is also the case for almost every Dibber and blog reader I am connected to on “the socials”, as every bugger was getting on a plane and walking up Main Street with little to no regard for my feelings on the matter. You are all selfish and should be ashamed of yourselves. As if you’re reading this claptrap if you’re in WDW.
Watching the parks as other folks do them feels weird. As you all know, because I keep bleating on about it, I have a strained relationship with them right now, but seeing Main Street and the rest of it stirs up the deeply rooted longing to be there. But I suppose I want to be back in the parks that I remember pre-pandemic and Chapek.
All these folks in WDW did also start to fuel my persecution complex as everyone there seems to be posting stuff like “Wow, the new Guardians is awesome, we rode it 76 times in a row with no queue” whereas on our last trip we struggled to get on the monorail without a fifty-minute wait.
As Chapek reads my blog every week of course, he’s probably blackballed me.
Back in the real world, Mary continues to battle on despite her health issues and now my Dad has joined in, not being very well for the last week or so and having to spend some time in hospital. I don’t like this and it can stop immediately, thank you. He’s only allowed one visitor, so I’ve only managed to talk to him on the phone a couple of times, but he does seem to be slightly better now and with a plan in place over the next few days to hopefully see some further improvement.
Woody the wiener continues to settle into the family unit. (Not a euphemism). I wouldn’t say he is fully house trained yet, but will now hold things until you take him out, if you take him out regularly enough. He’s doing OK. He is especially good at annoying the other animals in the house, and he has many to choose from.
His other speciality is causing carnage around the house and then falling asleep in it. Exhibit A.
He has had a weekend away this weekend, with Emily taking him over to Liverpool to her boyfriend’s. Nobody has enjoyed that more than our Cocker Spaniel Bean, who has not had to compete for attention for a few days.
Speaking of other pets, Loki our huge Maine Coon cat had to go to the vet recently as one of her already huge paws had blown up to the size of a baby’s head. The discussions led to talk of a CT scan, to see the root cause. Prices started at around £2000 for that so instead, we opted for £160 worth of pain killers and anti-inflammatories and the ability to continue eating. I suspect the talk of CT scans at thousands of pounds is just a softener so you feel like paying £160 for some Calpol is a bargain.
The paw does seem to be getting better/smaller and I wonder whether the bloody idiot got stung whilst tormenting some insect. It would be some form of cosmic retribution for the huge number of small rodents she has massacred and brought to our back door.
So the absence of any holiday plans continues and I’ll be honest, it’s beginning to sting a bit, much like Loki’s paw. You can tell my booking finger is itching to see some action as I seem to be watching endless episodes of A Place In The Sun just to see some sunshine, sea and beaches. My hiatus from vlogging continues but is softening as I have watched the odd Tracker video recently. This is all leading to some inevitable Veruca Salt moment at some point in the not too distant future when I stamp my feet and declare at loud volume that “I want a holiday and I want it now!”.
For now, we gird loins and other body parts and hunker down through the Groundhog days ahead of us and the relentless mediocrity of going to work every day.
Still, all our work on the house will be finished by the middle of next week…..right?
Apologies for the lack of blog last Sunday. We had a lot on and let’s face it, nobody cares.
I was inundated with one message asking if I was still alive, so thank you.
I doubt there are many other blogs where you can receive regular digging updates. It’s a niche market, but I’m happy to tackle it.
More digging has happened. We now have two “tiers” to complete the many other tears all this work is driving us to. To be fair, it has been relatively painless so far, for us at least. The digger driver did have a couple of interesting/terrifying moments in the smaller digger he used to do the final bits of shaping etc, as he traversed the moonscape that is currently our back garden, but the digging, at least involving the big machinery is done. Anything else will be done by hand now.
That is a relief in itself as just getting that sort of heavy machinery into position had the potential to upset the neighbours, damage property and see our field make an appearance in our kitchen.
We spent all week awaiting the delivery of all the materials so the reconstruction could begin. As with everything else in the country these days, building materials have become akin to precious metals and bugger all happened until yesterday as we awaited the delivery of rare commodities like wood and sand. The builders estimate about a week of work to get things complete once stuff arrives, so let’s say two and hope we’re somewhere close to done by the end of August. It’ll be lovely to look out at our new outdoor space through the drizzle and fog of Autumn.
The other news since we last “spoke” was our wedding anniversary on the 3rd. Twenty-six years of marriage and twenty-eight together. People often say things like “where has the time gone” in these circumstances. I know where it has gone. Mainly working, many lovely holidays and the usual mix of ups and downs. Literally, cest la vie.
In other news, and the latest “you couldn’t write it” episode of my life, one evening last week as I returned home from walking the dogs, I spotted some movement near our kitchen bin. What followed was twenty sweaty minutes of Louise and I trying to catch a mole that no doubt one of the cats had brought home and then lost or got bored with. It’s at times like these that you realise how much furniture you have, as the poor little bugger scuttles from one piece to another. Eventually, I threw some tupperware over it and took it outside to hopefully find its way home and not to another cat. We named him Doug. It felt appropriate.
To complete the Dig, Doug, Dougie trilogy, the latter has been a little unwell this week but a visit to the docs confirmed it was nothing serious. He was off his milk, which based on his track record to date, was very unusual. Anyway, he is on the mend and back to staying awake all day, smiling at everyone and eating.
With it being mid-August now, by rights I should be boring you to tears with the detailed coverage of our last-minute preparations for a WDW trip. This time of year has, more often than not, been our time of choice to visit Florida. It isn’t possible this year at this time for many reasons and for Louise and I, we just don’t know when it may be again with Mary needing the care she does. Respite care is not an option as the worry whilst away wouldn’t make for a relaxing time.
I’m not sure I’m ready to tackle WDW again yet anyway to be honest. It seems the more time that passes since our January trip, the less I feel inclined to combat the complicated mess that is visiting a WDW park. It’s like some mild form of Genie+ PTSD. Maybe it is better now? If you’ve been recently I’d welcome your feedback.
The CEO this week confirmed the one call I got right during the pandemic. The park reservation system is here to stay. As I guessed, this is just too useful to Disney in terms of their planning, cost management and ability to staff the parks, or perhaps more relevantly, limit the number of guests aligned to how many CMs they have available.
I don’t mind this too much. As someone who plans their days months in advance, mainly so we can eat where we want to, the chances of us rocking up to a park that’s full and having no reservation are slim to none. What I do object to is having to be awake and on-line around 6.30am to fight for the chance to pay extra money for Genie+ to have any chance of riding anything that resembles a headliner.
With a good number of new rides open or about to, this is only going to get worse. It may be years before folks get to ride a “new ride” even if they visit annually.
With no prospect of a holiday any time soon, the main reason I need to get one booked is that it is typically the only reason and motivation to lose a few pounds and let’s just say I should book about a dozen holidays to generate the weight loss required right now.
Let’s reconvene next Sunday with hopefully, news of a very nearly finished back garden. What could possibly go wrong?
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