My Second Worst Christmas Ever!
This has been my second worst Christmas ever! Except for Christmas lunch with my son, his partner and a few friends, it has been an unmitigated disaster.
I’ve frozen stiff, as my house has fought back against the plumber, who has gamely tried to fix the killer central heating system.
One of my pleasures at Christmas is going to see Ipswich play and the fixture list and the trains conspired to make that impossible. My attempts at finding a lift were a futile waste of time. I think, I should have developed a Plan B, where I skipped Christmas lunch and found a good hotel near Doncaster, from where I could have got a taxi to the match. But then knowing my luck, it would have been flooded out.
Incidentally, I’ve not bought my ticket for the trains to Bournemouth for Sunday, as the day I do, something will come about to stop that!
Next Christmas, I won’t be here at Christmas! Perhaps, I’ll just hit a policeman on Christmas Eve, so I’m inside for a day or so. At least, I’d have some new friends to talk to.
On the other hand there must be hotels that specialise in miserable Christmases. I could always try a cruise, as from past experience, I know they’re pretty grim.
My worst Christmas wasn’t 2007 when C died just before. I helped out at the Old Peoples’ Christmas Lunch and I seem to remember there was plenty of football to watch amongst friends.
The worst one had actually been a few years before, when our eldest son and his wife, went off skiing and left C and myself to look after about a dozen horses. And it snowed! I’m not in contact with them any more, as she feels that husbands should have no contact with their former families. That was a Christmas to truly forget. But as we did, C and myself, laughed it off. I do hope my son and his wife are flooded out this Christmas and have their worst Christmas ever. I know that’s uncharitable, but they deserve nothing better.
Can This Christmas Get Any Worse?
Yesterday’s lunch with my son and his friends went well, but I had to come home, as I wasn’t feeling well! Nothing serious and I suspect it was just the effect of the cold dry weather, affecting my gut. I don’t think I ate any gluten, but it was as if I had. So it was alone and back to watching old Two Ronnies and Morecambe and Wise on BBC2.
To make matters worse, when I returned home, I did find that I’d left a window open, when I went out. The house had a temperature of eighteen. At least, the open window only let the cold in.
At least, I was able to use the air conditioning to take the chill off of the temperature. But of course, the humidifier I’d hired in to get the humidity up had failed. Although, I’m doubtful it was ever working properly.
Why does she hate me so much? You can understand, why I feel that religion and God, herself, is so much rubbish.
I went to bed at about ten last night, as bed was the one warm place in the house. The temperature was about 20 °C with a humidity somewhere in the low thirties.
I slept well as I always do and decided to get up at five, as I was fully awake. I thought there might be some good news on the cricket and with the air-conditioning on, I might get the temperature up to twenty-three or so.
But of course, the news from Melbourne was its usual load of old rubbish.
And then the letter R on my e-mail computer packed up. Try typing anything sensible without that letter. It could have been worse, as the E might have failed. So now, I’m using my other computer, which is not as easy for my one-handed typing. It also doesn’t run my preferred Windows Vista.
At six-thirty, I decided to have a hot bath. That was good, but the bathroom is stone cold, as the heating isn’t really working.
In an hour or so, I’m going to get my paper and see if I can find a nice warm cafe. Sadly, there isn’t a hotel near me with a restaurant I can trust. Carluccio’s don’t open until eleven.
At least though, I’ve got plenty of porridge and some bacon, eggs and beans for a fry-up. I’d love to have some sausages, but they’re all in my freezer. But would they freeze out before next weekend, if I got them out now? The nearest supplier is one of two Sainsbury stores, which open at ten. I’ll need to go to one, as I’m virtually out of gluten-free bread.
I still intend to get to Doncaster, and as I write this, I haven’t got a lift. I did think there’d be someone in the area going north with a space, so I didn’t make alternative provisions. This would have been to book a place on the coach from Newmarket. I can get there by taking a train to Stansted and then using a taxi. But it is now too late to book the coach.
So if I do go, it’ll be a 113 bus to Apex Corner and then hitching up the A1.
I’m really looking forward to tomorrow and the return to some degree of normality.
Next winter, I’ll book myself into a five-star hotel on Christmas Eve. Then when it all goes pear-shaped, I’ll at least ruin the Christmas of a lot of other people.
London Zoo On A Cold And Wet Day
Logic would say that you don’t go to the zoo on a cold, wet and miserable day.
But I’ve just returned from such a trip to a far from empty London Zoo.
A couple of people I met, said that they always went, often with kids on Christmas Eve.
I’ll certainly go again! Even if I did have to go to Carluccio’s afterwards for a warming cup of tea and a nourishing cake.
One advantage of being a Friend of the Zoo, as I am, is that you can get in through a gate that is much closer to the 274 bus stop from Islington.
My Seventh Christmas Alone
I thought that it can’t be, but it is! I could rewrite this post from 2010, but that would be boring.
I am struggling to get to the football on Boxing Day and except for lunch tomorrow, I’ve got very little planned.
And surprise, surprise, the television is crap and of course there’s no live sport.
This afternoon, I’m going to see my friends in the penguin pool at London Zoo. At least they’re loving this weather.
Oh Dear! Christmas Is Coming!
I hate Christmas and the older I get, the more I do so. Remember C died just before Christmas in 2007.
Oh Dear! Christmas Is Coming!
This picture from John Lewis sums it all up. Tat hanging from the ceiling, to try to get you into a jolly mood!
This year, I won’t even have the relief of football on Boxing Day, as Ipswich are playing in Doncaster and there won’t be any trains.
I Get Two Possible Christmas Day Lenders On Zopa
My lending pot is empty, but today, I did get two new lenders, who are wanting to borrow money on Zopa. Obviously, they may not pass the credit checks, but they did apply on Christmas Day.
One canny Scot got an offer to borrow £5,000 at 5.8% and an East Ender got one to borrow £1,200 at 6.1%. Both were considered to be A* or the most highly-rated borrowers.
A Proper Bath
Today, I had my first proper bath since I had my stroke. It was deep and I was able to dip my head under the water to wash my hair. I’ve never been brave enough to do it since I’ve moved. The previous bath was so dangerous, that one slip and I might have been a goner.
Now that bath is a Christmas present!
I was also able to get out of the bath and successfully take my INR. It’ll be interesting to see if the value changes after all those sprouts. Hopefully, I won’t have this guy‘s problem.
I also took the INR from my left hand, which is only the second time, I’ve done that! Perhaps the hand is getting better?
Football On Christmas Day
Danny Baker on his program today, asked if anybody had been into a football ground on Christmas Day.
I phoned up and said that I’d been to a match at White Hart Lane on Christmas Day morning. Danny was rather sceptical, to say the least!
I remember that we went to do an hour or so’s work in my father’s print works, as he was rather a workaholic to say the least. We then drove to the ground from Wood Green. I’m not certain, who we played, but it was somewhere in the mid-1950s and it could have been Luton Town.
We then went home for a late Christmas lunch.
I did find a bit of history about Christmas Day football here.
One thing that they must have had in those days was a decent public transport system over the holidays. And ASLEF wouldn’t have been on strike.
What Disaster Will We Get This Year?
I can’t say I’m looking forward to Christmas.
Usually, C and I used to go away on Boxing Day or soon after to somewhere nice and warm. But this year, both my son and myself, have the builders in, which makes things difficult. At least, I can get through the door of my house and live comfortably. So we’re going to a Christmas lunch at one of his friend’s houses. It should be a good party, but I don’t like relying on the hospitality of others.
Why can’t Christmas, be like it was in my childhood?
In those days, the Christmas Day tradition was to go to White Hart Lane to see the football and then come home to Christmas lunch. I could skip the lunch and the awful Christmas television, but at least it’s reliable these days. I can remember watching High Noon one Christmas and the power was fading, so just before the gunfight we lost all the pictures. Those were the days. I think one year, life was so boring, that I took my father’s car out of the garage, put mine in there and then washed and painted the wheels a fetching shade of blue. In fact, it is the same colour, that I’ve chosen for my new carpets.
I’ve just noticed the date on the carpets post. Have my builders taken nearly three months to get virtually nowhere? Such is life! Or should it be such is builders?
But what worries me about Christmas is it’s always a time for disaster. If I look back on my life, I can remember invasions, tsunamis, earthquakes, sto,rs, floods and probably even some pestilence. With me, the worse disaster was that awful year, the AGA went AWOL on Christmas morning. And mother-in-law was here. I seem to remember one of the biggest rows between C and her mother. But we survived, as we always did.
Personally, my worse Christmas could have been 2007, the year that C died just two weeks before. I helped out at the old peoples Christmas lunch in Bury St. Edmunds and had a good time considering. Then I ate my own Christmas lunch alone on Boxing Day. That is something, I’ve not done since.
I will though follow those who believe that the year will end this Christmas and make sure I have some food in.
After all, my son and I have no transport between us, So I’ll be relying on a taxi on Christmas Day. And if it doesn’t come, I’ve got to make sure I don’t starve. As to drink, I do live bext door to a pub.
Santa’s In Charge
I rode back from the Angel today on a New Bus for London. The driver/conductor was dressed for Christmas. And for the weather!
Santa’s In Charge
At least the red is compatible with London buses’ iconic colour.
The Anonymous Widower 