You don't have to drink every time you go to a pub/bar. Much as I like a beer, I probably end up having cola more often. And I visit pubs/bars quite a lot : the food in many of them is far better than what you can get in fast food places

Are there any groups for youngsters, tinkering about with motor bikes that he could volunteer at? Passing on his experience to the next generation.

Said cat is proficient in projectile peeing in an artistic parabolic curve. So not a mark on the ***ding cat. I should sell the mangled plastic mess she left behind as an installation at the Tate Modern or similar. It'd give Emin a good run for her money.

Pixie - am thinking of you and zenning you a Bag-Hug.

Sense-of-Humour-STILL-Bypassed-Bag x

It'd be better than that bed that Emin passed off as 'art'...

Just when I thought I'd worked out the options for replacing my central heating my mother-in-law has phoned to say her boiler has been condemned. She can't afford a new one so will need us to help out. Hmmm I wonder if a plumber can do a supermarket style buy-one-get-one-free!

Bless you for being willing to help her. (Or at least entertaining the possibility)

May the rest of your day go perfectly.

If she's over a certain age I think she can get it done for free (the Warmfront scheme), as my late father did. However, knowing what these things are, she's probably just too young/they've stopped the scheme/other random annoyance.

I've been looking into that - her income is a teeny tiny bit too high to qualify.

I'm trying to get a second opinion to see if the current boiler is repairable.

I can't seem to bring myself to sleep or eat properly anymore. I do get hungry and tired and I have no serious problems falling or staying asleep if I try. But for whatever reason unless a friend asks me to I don't go to meals, and whenever I go to bed I plan to wake up three hours later. Yes, I have work to do, but I know that if I slept/ate more I probably would be much more efficient and could get everything done with time to spare. I'm confused...

Are you under a lot of stress at the moment?

I'm not surprised But the good thing is that you have noticed this is going on.
Are you a list person, or a calendar/diary person? If so, writing "sleeping time", breakfast, lunch, dinner etc in to your list/diary may be a help (I had a stage of each evening writing a food plan for the next day, which I could tick things off of as I ate them - a fight between the desire to not eat and the desire to have ticked off everything on my list by the end of the day!! I also had a stage where I had cereal and milk three meals a day - not particularly good for you, but short-term better than eating nothing)
I suspect the something to try would be to take a day or two off, to show that the whole thing does not come crashnig down. You can sleep for half the day and still have time for other stuff.
Find someone in real life to talk to if you can.


My argh is v.minor. My cold was getting better, so last night I was all ready to go to today's lesson with no practice but at least some ability to breathe.
Of course today I have woken up with a rather grim headache and a seemingly worsened cold I'm still having my music lesson though, unless I arrive and teacher sends me home (which he won't; if I really can't breathe then we'll just talk baroque history for an hour )
And, I keep getting twitches which I associate with missed/coming off one of my meds. I got the first one at home so the first thing I did was go and check I have taken my meds, and I have. Very weird to have them without a 'reason', I'm sure the cold is in some way to blame (at least that's what the doctor would say).

lily, I go through periods like that occasionally and it is usually because something somewhere is bugging me. I find it helps to get out of doors in the fresh air as much as possible, to occupy myself with the garden and the animals and before going to sleep to read. I usually choose something pleasant and easy to read - a good yarn rather than serious literature. I don't know if any of this would help but it's the sort of thing that might be worth a try.

I just cannot believe this. I asked my partents SIX WEEKS AGO, what they will do on my fathers (and my uncles) 75th birthday because the parents of a collegue of mine live in Norway and she need to buy tickets, and they tell me they will probably with my uncle (in a different town), I should go ahead and tell her to get the ticket. AND NOW the tell me, my whole family is coming to their place which is half an hour away from me, and if I would like to come! ?!?! Of course, NOW there is no chance, I get a vacation day. UTTER DISAPPOINTMENT on my fathers side (hello, he caused this), and of course utter disappointment on my side, because I haven't seen my other uncle in what, 30 years?

And they all will come with their instruments. My uncle with his flute and violin, my auntie with her cello, and my other uncle will hit the keys of my fathers piano. Screeeeeeeeeeeeeammmmmmmm!

Hubs went to the hospital with his ankle today, hoping for a plaster cast. Still too swollen, so no cast yet, he has to wait another week. And then the doc signed him off .....for 6 weeks. Not good when he had only been in his job 3 weeks when he did it, so on top of everything we don't know if he's going to have a job to go back to. He's been too chicken to call them today so far . And means I have him under my feet for at least another week whilst I'm teaching/practicing. Arrrgghhhh!

I have discovered a small repaired soundpost crack on the 1810 Austrian violin I have on trial. This will make selling it very hard if I bought it and at that kind of money I would need to be sure I could at least get my money back.

I was starting to fall in love with it.

If it is on the front, small and well repaired then it shouldn't be an issue. My teacher will buy with frontal cracks but not back cracks. Use it as a bargaining point to reduce the price.....

It is on the back. I was at Bishops today and both the staff member and owner said they would avoid the violin as a result. If Ealing Strings would buy the violin back if i ever were to sell it for the sale price then I may be repinterested.

At Bishop's the owner was saying that 65% of people would be turned off the violin due to the crack and it would be hard to recoup what I would potentially have to pay to own the violin.

In that case I agree. I wouldn't buy it.

I was getting quite attached to it. Anyhow it will be going back this weekend.

I needed this week to buy a special gift to give to somebody next week. I decided some glasses made by a well known crystal company - but I couldn't find any shops stocking what I wanted, and the company themselves couldn't send it for another 4 weeks as they didn't have it in stock. I was disappointed, but then found it for sale on Amazon, with a next day delivery option. Hurrah! The package arrived today - and as soon as I picked it up I could hear the sound of broken glass...

Amazon had done a good job of putting the glasses box within another box with plenty of material round it. But the original box, i.e. the crystal company's, didn't contain anything to stabilise the position of the glasses (such as a cardboard collar around the stem) so of course they broke!

Amazon have been very helpful and organised a replacement item to be sent to arrive tomorrow morning- but they can't do anything about the original company packaging so it's possible I'll just get another broken item tomorrow - and I won't be able to get a refund in time to go and buy something else in the shops, and cant' afford to buy anything until I get the refund.

A strongly worded email has gone to the crystal company, saying that since they sell things online, and send things out to stockists, and since their products are not cheap, why on earth can they not design a glass box which actually holds them securely?

Nothing annoys me more than comapnies who almost do a good job but can't quite make that final step to actually get things right. ..

I'm sure that if you told the story and added some blurb about the "artwork" demonstrating the effects of modern living on our world, you could get it shown anywhere - particularly if you were to add a radiation sticker to suggest the "horrors" of nuclear-produced electricity (and perhaps a stuffed cat?!). The rubbish I have seen in the few modern art exhibitions I've attended is all along these lines. Actually, I can feel the worth of your item just by thinking about it!


Oh dear! He has made a mess of his ankle. Still, it's a great chance for him to brush up on his domestic skills ready for your 18 day absence!

Sadly not as he has to rest with it elevated all the time to bring the swelling down, and he can only get around on 2 crutches...so I'm fetching and carrying and there is no way he can cook or do anything!!

Poor you - it never rains but it pours! Somehow despite it all, you do sound happier. It will all be worth it in the long run if you can keep both the career and the marriage you want.

I feel for him - he's worrying about his job, and bored at home! Still he's actually sorting out the printer (yes he's that bored!) so that is a help... But yes, despite it all, we are much happier, there are been big promises to the whole family that there will be no more really serious arguments again, and he isn't scowling at me when I go to band now. And hopefully on Wed I'll have a violin and a certificate that I can give to the insurance.

four morons spray-painting Tube trains Reported them but how likely is it that anything will actually happen to them

Alot of the stations are covered in CCTV, so it's possible.

I doubt it's the first time that most of these people have been spotted doing it : and invariably they'll use the same tag name each time, which invariably means most are caught and punished. There was a plague of graffiti on public transport in this area a few years ago : the people involved were caught, and most were jailed or heavily fined, and the problem is very, very much reduced now.

they were cackling and daring each other to spray the train while it was pulling away.

Thick, two, short, planks...

How much electricity in the two live rails?...

That is *exactly* what I was thinking. It would probably have made a great Darwin award nomination.

Took on terrible job in the garden this afternoon - clearing some brambles round the back and 'far' side of the garage (narrow pasage between garage and fence). Got it done, but a bramble sprang back and hit me in the face. I ended up picking several thorns out of left cheek and neck with tweezers. Luckily it didnt get my eye.

Maybe wear goggles next time or leave the dangerous tasks to the wife.

Ouch, I know what that feels like, was an occupational hazard for me

Sorry to hear this, f#m. Brambles are the most persistent things - they'll be back next year for sure, but at least you've cleared them for now.

But what's so bad about brambles? They're delicious!

AAAARGH!

Worrying and stressing about various work related things and the only people I feel able to tell can't help me very much (and have probably already done what they can for me)

AAAAAAARGH!

About a week ago I locked a classroom door at school. The key got stuck and I caused other people a lot of work.

Just under a week ago my patrner opened the bathroom door and it fell off its top hinge. We can't get it back.

The door which separates the sleeping area from the office area upstairs has also fallen off one hinge and is leaning precariously as we haven't managed to lift it off the other hinge.

Thursday evening I drove home, got out of the car to open the gates farthest from the house. They are big, heavy metal gates. I pushed the right hand one back and nearly broke my arm as it fell - the hinge had come out of the wall. I had to phone for help as I was stuck holding the gate up.

Today I went to put the dustbins out for tomorrow morning. The far gates being condemmed I used the near gates. The lock has jammed.

Last Monday I took the car into the garage to ask them to fix a window which kept sliding down. When I got it back they had jammed the window shut -having (quite rightly) decided that I was unlikely to want to pay 400 euros for the spare part needed.

If any one asks me to open or close anything from a tin of cat food to a bottle of champagne I shall inform them they are taking an enormous risk. I am neither opening nor shutting anything until this jinx has passed!!!!!

Aquarelle - argh and a jinx indeed!!!

Hope it passes soon...

Aquarelle, I don't blame you for not wanting to touch anything!!!

Goodness me, Aquarelle, I think no more gates/doors/etc for you...no more light switches for me! Our kitchen light fitting has four lights/bulbs. On switching the light on, Friday evening, ping went a bulb. On switching it on Saturday morning, ping went another bulb. Saturday evening, a third...replaced the three bulbs today and crossing fingers (we are thinking it may be a bad batch of bulbs that we bought in a pack of five, either that or I am just a bulb killer...)

I keep blowing lightbulbs at the moment. Its really annoying, as I'm too short to change them, and there is nothing in my flat stable enough to stand on to do the job. I keep having to wait and get my boyfriend or a relation to do it...

But my argh for the week is work... *sigh*

My argh is not being at decide between 2 really lovely violins.

Also a bulb went in my bathroom today and nowhere is open for me to go and get a new bulb, at this time of night.

Take a bulb out from somewhere else so that you have light in the bathroom.

That VH has to be the aaaargghhh equivalent of a moast

Lightbulbs always do seem to blow in batches and at awkward moments. I have a lamp with an uplighter that has a nasty habit of attracting flies and moths then blowing the bulb when the insect incinerates itself.

Take your time, one will win out in the end.

It is a different type of bulb that I have nowhere else in my flat.

I wish they were all standard. We seem to have half a dozen different shapes and fittings and then add the different Wattages and you have to keep dozens of spares.

When I move into my new, bigger, flat I will ensure spares of all varieties required will be in permanent stock.

I don't keep spares: Just a handy lamp which gets moved from room to room and fills in until I "get around" to replacing the blown bulb...

We too have four bulbs in the kitchen fitting, quite often if one goes the others go soon after. Theres one of them , when the bulb has gone, the whole of the downstairs light circuit sometimes fuses (and we have an old fashioned fuse box, weher you have to put a fresh piece of fuse wire in). Well its happened twice.