Life

Somehow 2018 just keeps giving – but not necessarily in the way I would have liked.

Driving back from my cardiology appointment, the traffic was very heavy and suddenly there was a rather worrying light displaying on the dashboard. I was unfamiliar with this light but wanted to get home so took it slowly and made it home. Whereupon I resorted to the manual to be informed that it was the engine light and should be checked immediately. It was too late to call the garage that evening so I called next morning but as that was Saturday they only had one engineer on duty. However, I drove down and left the car with them. Later a phone call informed me that it was the ignition coil pack – whatever – and I could not drive it until it was repaired. My arrangements for weekend changed as the garage is disinclined for me to put my golden retriever in their courtesy car – too much hair.

Finally I got the appointment with the Consultant Surgeon only to find that he wanted to remove my gallbladder. As I did not jump for joy and ask ‘how soon’ he decided that it would not be unreasonable to offer another Ultrasound scan.  A few weeks later the scan took place so I now have to await another appointment with the Consultant.

My birthday was at the end of last month and my son and family suggested taking me to lunch on the following Saturday.  However, a few days before a van drove into the side of their car (no injuries) which meant that the replacement car was not suitable for my son’s wheelchair.  We rearranged the venue and were able to have an enjoyable lunch celebration.  Although I am not into balloons and bunting I was impressed by bunting that my granddaughter had made and hung up in their house.

That weekend, Word decided to update on my computer and lost my scanner so I needed to prevail on my son to resolve the problem.

Shortly afterwards I discovered the battery on my laptop was not charging, however it was difficult to know if it was a problem with the battery or the power cable. So following two hours on the phone to tech support it was decided that it was the socket and the power cable.  Of course, as that was late on a Thursday the engineer would not be able to visit until the Monday. Fortunately, when he arrived and made the repairs all appeared to be well.

By the end of the week I found that I was having problems making calls on the landline – called the provider on the mobile and went through the various options – music – I wouldn’t mind if they were streaming my late husband’s music – eventually a human took the call. Following checks I was informed there definitely was a fault on the line so the engineer was booked – but of course not for a couple of days.

The same weekend my son went away so I started to look after their ‘goldie’,  I discovered the cold water tap in the kitchen was running very slowly. By Sunday lunchtime it stopped running water at all. I made the assumption that it must be that tap as cold water was running from the other taps in the house.  Lunchtime Sunday I called the plumbing insurance and they booked an appointment for that day. Fortunately the plumber arrived right at the end of the time slot but it only took a few minutes to fix the fault; so much easier to keep filling the dog’s drinking bowls. With the hot weather keeping two ‘goldies’ cool is quite a challenge; I think they will be pleased when the weather cools down.