Mr. Shifter
Two weeks off for Christmas
I’d not had a good week the week before, I’d spent time off ill and I was now desperate not to waste the fortnight I had off.
My car was proving a problem as it had suddenly developed a problem running as economically as it had once done. A diesel particulate filter warning lamp had signalled a reduction in mpg by around 10mpg, not good with the mileage I did and representing around £80 a month in extra diesel.
Up at 7:12am and after breakfast I was off to the VW garage in Darlington.
I booked the car in and after five coffees in the waiting area I was called back for the synopsis. Basically I was told that the DPF was no longer an issue, the car was fine and the problem was probably due to me using cheap fuel and/or the weather. I was quite fizzed off with this, it wasn’t the weather, it wasn’t cheap fuel and it wasn’t Jack the Ripper. I knew my car, I knew that the fuel I’d used in the past was consistently cheap and the weather wasn’t that bad, certainly not 10mpg bad. Anyway I left feeling I’d just spent £60 on the most expensive coffees and carwash I’d ever had. I also realised as I left that they’d forgotten to tell me about a wheel noise I’d asked them to investigate and a head unit reflash I’d asked them to in quote for. I wasn’t happy and as I headed home the DPF warning light blipped on again, ohhhh I wasn’t happy. I was later to find a video from the garage in my email inbox, the engineer giving a verbal walk-around of the car explaining that the tyres were “saw-toothed” and that’s why there was undue road-noise, this had been relayed to me as I sat sipping coffee. Ohhhhh I was even unhappier.
Anyway once this was done I was straight back to B&Q to purchase some more loft insulation.
Tesco for some diesel, the Coop for some Christmas booze and then Simpsons for three bags of Ovoids to keep me toasty over Christmas.
I got back had a spot of lunch, unloaded the car, did my washing, tidied my bedroom, sorted out some presents for Izzi and then got on with some proper work.
Basically the next and a very onerous job was to move the remaining boxes from the living room to the attic. This sounds easy but there were as many boxes and oddments in there as had already been moved to the attic. This time too I was moving them all by myself and some of these weighed a ton. I developed a method whereby the heavier ones could be balanced on top of my head and holding them in place with one hand I marched up the ladder to the attic. Some of the more massive ones could be pushed up the rungs of the ladders, a really dangerous job to do by oneself but I was doing a good job without having to split too many boxes into lighter loads.
Hours melted away and before I could turn around it was 10:30 in the evening and the task hadn’t been finished. I retired to the kitchen and knocked up a nice steak and washed it down with a beer before watching a movie and going to bed.