Day 233 – Rain stopped paint

It’s November. Springtime. We shouldn’t be getting days of 40-odd degrees just yet, like we did on Thursday (save those for February, please), nor should we be getting days of 16-odd degrees and annoying rain. Especially on the weekend. And yet…

This is not what I was promised.

With Mrs 6000 away this weekend on a much-deserved chill out with her friends, and the kids working hard on a Scouts project, I walked the dog and then thought that I could get some of those painting jobs done today. Only one issue: they’re outside painting jobs. And it’s 16-odd degrees with annoying rain.
On a weekend.

There’s no footy on until the mighty Malta clash with Andorra, live on SuperSport at 4pm (well, I have the choice of that or San Marino v Gibraltar), and who could resist the pull of that high intensity international football with that great stadium atmosphere?

Love my football right now.

Certainly not me, and so I’m plugging the gap by writing blog posts (well, one) and watching Taskmaster and Only Connect videos on Youtube. It feels a bit wrong, because all those outside painting jobs are hanging over until tomorrow, BUT THAT’S NOT MY FAULT!

Actually, looking outside, it does seem to have brightened up a bit. But I’m quite happy here with my videos and my coffee now.

Oh dear.

Day 24 – DIM

DIY = Do It Yourself
DIM = (Fine, I’ll) Do It Myself (then)

I have been forced into doing all those little jobs that my wife has been going on about for a few days years now. Well, technically she did half of them and then I felt so guilty I had to join in and do the rest. We now have – amongst other things – cleared flower beds and painted walls.

And a stronger marriage. Maybe.

These were the sort of chores that we might normally have done together over a weekend, so I don’t feel too bad, but they did still need doing and I hadn’t (until now, at least) done them.

That’s not to say that I haven’t done anything though – the steps in the back garden were falling apart, and now they are falling apart a little bit less. Some trees and bushes were getting a bit overgrown and now they are less overgrown. But sometimes it’s hard to motivate oneself to do these rather mundane tasks, especially when one day is very much blending into the next and the world is not going to fall apart (any more than it already has) if you don’t do them.

Even I have to admit that the flower beds look better and the wall looks lovely though. I tried to suggest that the fact that we’d done these jobs together meant that we can both be proud of the outcome, but my wife rolled her eyes so far back that she could see 2019.

I may be in trouble and I suspect that only a well-mixed gin and tonic will get me out of it. I’m going to give that approach a go right now.

Lots done

After a weekend which wasn’t even supposed to be spent at home in Cape Town, I find myself completely drained. I’ve done about a million jobs that I didn’t even know needed doing, but which – with hindsight – I’m actually glad I got out of the way.

There are a big couple of weeks ahead at work before our Europe trip, and I’ve been on the go all day, so I’m going to guide Panama a little closer to World Cup glory on the Playstation, rather than blogging this evening.

If that’s ok with you, that is?*

More – including news of Panama’s latest triumphs – tomorrow.

 

 

*  or even if it’s not, to be honest.

Chores

Because, like most people, I enjoy weekends where I can be lazy and not do anything, I have to suffer occasional days like today, where a critical point of all those little jobs I should have done (and didn’t) is reached. It’s nothing too taxing, to be honest. A fish tank to clean here, a garage workbench to tidy there, some settings to fix on the Mavic, an important junction box to be mended so that the internet can continue to flow into the house, and quite a lot of iTunes to sort out. Again.

At least that last one can be accompanied by some decent tunage.
I’m currently enjoying some vintage Pet Shop Boys while the beagle snores on the couch behind me and I delete a huge amount of crap from my library.
It’s not exactly strenuous, but I seem to be constantly refining the way iTunes handles my music. I do wish there was a better alternative for my musical collection.

Back to it. Braai and beers to look forward to later.