Happy pants and houses

Posted on September 23, 2016 by thepogblog

I have a pair of happy pants.  When I wear them, happy things often happen.  Sometimes I wear them if I need some specific to happiness.  I don’t wear them too often as 1) I don’t want to wear out their affect and 2) I don’t want to wear them out….they are pretty old these days.

Anyway, On Tuesday I put my happy pants on as some phone calls on Monday relating to my house made be think I might need them.  And sure enough, by Tuesday lunchtime, almost five weeks after my house went on the market, I was officially ‘under offer’.  I have one of those ‘Sold STC’ labels on the Pog Towers internet thingy.  It’s very exciting.

Most exciting is that I no longer have to have people viewing my house, which means I don’t have to keep it looking pristine.  It wasn’t intentional, but by the end of Tuesday things had gone from ‘show house’ to ‘have you been burgled?’  It also means I don’t have to put up with weird questions, like ‘Does your shed have electricity?’ ‘Are you leaving the curtains? and ‘Where do you keep the hoover?’  Those are the only questions one person asked.  I must have answered them right though as she was one of the people that put in an offer.

So things should all be falling into place, right?  Erm, not quite.  I don’t know if you get house buying nerves but I’m now having a minor panic that maybe Pog Towers 2 shouldn’t be Pog Towers 2.  Maybe there is a Pog Towers 2.1 out there that is better.  And that’s why Sister 2 and I have just been to view a house that is the complete opposite to the one I actually have an offer on.  It is 300 years old, needs a few things replacing (like the ceilings, some of the walls, the wiring and most of the windows) and I love it.  I think I’d need bottomless pockets to buy it though…

But we had a giggle viewing.  The bathroom, for example, had a sloping ceiling and sloping floor:

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The electrics were….interesting:

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The plug coming out the wall is upside down. But that’s ok, because the socket is too…

And the ceilings…well:

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We chatted with the neighbour outside who gave up the lowdown:  He has no idea how it is staying up and there is nothing supporting it….other than the houses either side.  We chatted for a long time and he told us lots of useful information.  I asked about noise between the houses and he said there is one point between his and this house where there used to be a door and they could hear the man who used to live there, and that apparently the neighbours on the other side can hear through the walls of one bedroom.  And that is when Sister 2 came into her own with perhaps the most embarrassing comment she’s ever made:  ‘Oh that’s ok’ she informed him. ‘My sister is very single’.  Yup, thanks for that, Sister 2.

So on the way home Sister 2 and I talked through all the reasons I absolutely shouldn’t consider it.  The list went on and on and on. ‘So don’t put an offer in then’ she said.  ‘Oh no.  I’m putting in an offer.’ I replied.  Good.  That was a useful conversation then.

I have no idea what to do and I am no good at this adulting lark.  I think I need to put my happy pants back on. :o)

 

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The joy of webcams

Posted on September 20, 2016 by thepogblog

I have a new work lap top.

This is a good thing as my old one had been around twice as long as Little Pea has and, due to the number of lunches eaten over it, was a bit of a health hazard.

This is not a good thing because I now have a webcam that not only works (the one on the old laptop never did), but it starts up automatically when I have a meeting.

Three meetings later I now have a small list of things to remember that will no doubt grow rapidly:

  • Do hair and make up.  Gone are the days of working from home when nobody can see me.   (In my first meeting today I failed miserably – I only realised that the person I was meeting with could see me when I saw myself pop up on the screen looking more than a little scary.  Luckily, the lady I was meeting with is a) very lovely and b) also forgot about her webcam.  We looked like a right pair….)
  • Don’t get up part way through a meeting for a wander. (Second meeting I did just this and couldn’t work out why I was hearing someone saying ‘um, where have you gone?’.  Its cyber stalking, practically.)
  • Don’t pick that sore bit on your face while in a meeting.  (I actually finished my third meeting with blood on my face, which is probably worse than scary hair and lack of makeup.  Professional.)

I’m only amazed that Norman didn’t get involved.  Maybe he’s not keen on the camera either.

I guess crocheting my way through meetings (it helps me focus, I promise!) are also a thing of the past.  Unless I can work out how to turn the thing off :o)

ivy

completely irrelevant, but it reminds me of my holiday, where I would have rather been today

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This is the way we do holidays

Posted on September 13, 2016 by thepogblog

I am on holiday with my family in Ithaca – a teeny Greek island. It’s beautiful. Despite weather forecasts predicting thunder storms, the weather is beautiful too. For some, this would mean a holiday involving mostly this:

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This:image

And this:

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But today was more of the sort of thing my family do…

We drove up a mountain to a deserted monastery:

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And found an old Greek lady who bought us Turkish delight…:

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We discovered regal cows:

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And tree climbing goats:

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Then, I left the family to their ouzo in an empty shop / cafe (with just a stuffed vulture, live parrot and three locals and a set of worry beads) and went for a wander round the village. I thought this made quite a nice photo:

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But as I took it the lady who clearly owned the grapes started shouting at me. I did the English tourist thing of apologising in English but it obviously wasn’t understood.  She came rushing out of her house and towards me with a knife and indicated that I should ….absolutely cut a buch of grapes and keep them.  And did I want more?

And that is how I ended up the proud owner of some not very sweet but not completely bitter grapes….:o/

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I love our kind of holidays :o)

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The cherry on top

Posted on September 9, 2016 by thepogblog

I rather like Cherry Bakewells.

I was wondering the other day in what way they are ‘hand finished’ as the box claimed.  I came to the conclusion it was the cherry.  Someone somewhere must have a job title of ‘cherry topper’.  Only the cherry topper involved in this box clearly had other things on their mind:

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No cherry!

But I can understand that.  I leave to go on holiday in 12.5 hours and I have NOTHING ready.  My entire life is crammed in cupboards / the loft / under my bed / in the boot of my car as a result of de cluttering for house viewings.  Washing is hanging up wet in my bathroom.  I don’t have a clue where most of the stuff I need to take is.  I have a feeling it will be a long night….

Hopefully I wont forget something as critical as the cherry on top though!  :o)

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Look carefully

Posted on September 6, 2016 by thepogblog

Sometimes we don’t all see things the way they are intended.

A friend posted this on Facebook from his holiday a few days ago.

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I read it quickly, then I read it again.  I had no idea Abraham Lincoln had saved the unicorn…

And today, I popped out to my car to discover the kids that live in my road hadn’t gone back to school.  (I guessed this earlier on when I had to strategically mute my phone on conference calls so that my colleagues didn’t have to cope with their screaming too).  They all seemed to have gathered just outside my house, but one of them was deeply involved in drawing.  I asked her what she was doing.  It was this:

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It may look like a piece of paper with some weird icons, but it turns out that one of my smaller neighbours wants an ipad.  So this little girl had drawn her one.  It had taken her all morning.  Tomorrow she’s going to colour it in ‘and it will look loads better’.

I think it looks good now.  Although maybe it could do with one of those unicorns Mr Lincoln managed to save… :o)

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One of those people

Posted on September 2, 2016 by thepogblog

I am an idiot.  It’s hardly breaking news, but what happened last night is still making me cringe.

I get the coach to work these days.  I have for a few months – and very civilised it is too.  On the first day I saw a man with a kind face who I was pretty sure I knew.  I was almost sure I’d worked with him.  He smiled and said hello, and has done every time we’ve seen each other since.

Now, you need to know that I am terrible at remembering names.  I’m not great at faces either.  If I recognise you and use your name, please be impressed – there aren’t many of you out there.  Having recently moved back to an office I worked in a few years ago I’ve been going through all levels or awkwardness when lovely people greet me by name, suggest coffee and say they will be in touch.  I promptly cross my finger hoping the invite will never turn up as nine times out of ten I have no idea who they are.  Not a clue.  There are people in my life that I have known for years and I can’t address by name because I have no idea what it is.  For those I can get away with they become ‘sweetheart’.  Everyone else I just have to be creative about getting their attention.

Anyway, last night, the man with a kind face sat down behind me and asked how I was.  Argh.  I took a bit of a risk and asked where he was working now.  I didn’t hear his answer so asked who he was working for, thinking that might help.  He looked a bit confused.  It turned out he now works at a different company, so I wouldn’t actually know his manager.

Me: But I used to work with you, didn’t I?

Him: Yes, we worked together on <programme name>

Me: Oh wow, that’s so weird.  I went to a party a few months back and this man kept looking at me weirdly and it turned out he worked with me on that programme too!  It was so long ago; fancy two of you remembering me from back then.

I sat back in my seat to wonder at how small the world is and it dawned on me…I turned back round.

Me:  You were the man at the party weren’t you?

Him: Um, yes.

Me: <wishing the seat would swallow me but deciding to try to recover the situation with more questions>  So, where do you live?

Him:  Um, near the big school, XXX lane

Me:  Oh God!  I used to live in that road!  Three houses away.  How weird is that?!

Him: It’s a small world

I sat back in my seat to wonder again at how small the world is and it dawned on me…I turned back round.

Me: We had this conversation at the party too, didn’t we?

Him:  Um, yes.

Me: <wishing the seat would swallow me but deciding to try to recover the situation with even more questions>    So, you have children?  (I DID remember this vaguely)

Him:  Yes.  Three.  12, 14 and 16

Me:  Oh!  I’ve just realised, your daughter works at a shop I go to sometimes.  We’ve talked about the fact she lives close to where I used to

Him:  Yes, that’s right

Me:  <Dawning realisation that we’ve had this conversation too.  Time to give up.  Possibly time to become  a hermit>

The only thing I had right is that this is a kind man.  I ended up apologising profusely for clearly being worse for wear at the party and not remembering very much at all.  He laughed and told me not to worry at all.  The thing is, although those details will now me etched on my mind forever, accompanied by a lot of cringing, I have NO idea what the man’s name is.  I guess he is destined to be one of those people… :o)

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A case of mistaken identity

Posted on August 30, 2016 by thepogblog

So, on Sunday night this happened:

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Now, I’ve always thought it would be lovely for a complete stranger to endorse the pog blog in some way, but it was very obvious that Dr K. had got in a bit of a muddle somewhere along the line and that anyone following his facebook posts was likely to be slightly disappointed.  I don’t think I have ever talked about issues important to the residents of the 11th congressional district…

I set Dr K (who, it turns out, is running for congress) right and went to bed:

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Dr K didn’t respond.  He didn’t even point out my typo.  I woke up on Monday to discover that poor Herb had had to admit that he’s ‘not been keeping up with his blog’.  I do hope he didn’t get into trouble for that.

Yesterday the post was still there.  Today it seems to have disappeared.  I admit I am relieved for Herb and Dr K, but I am a little sad.  I had visions of people wanting to get a bit wound up about issues important to the residents of the 11th congressional district landing on my blog and ending up having a bit of a giggle instead.  Oh well.  Maybe next time I get an endorsement (I wish!) it will be a little more appropriate :o)

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Hotness and firemen

Posted on August 26, 2016 by thepogblog

It’s hot.  I like hot weather.  It’s just not quite so fun when you work from home and sit in a conservatory to do so.  Usually I would move into a cooler part of the house in the middle of the day in this weather, but yesterday I was having two house viewings at lunchtime and in an attempt to keep the house uncluttered, I wanted to stay where I was, at my desk.

As a result, when the first man arrived I was a sweaty mess.  I mean even the edges of my hair was wet.  It was not attractive.  He, however, was.  And (I imagine to the amusement of a few people who think I’ve met more than my quota) he was a fireman.  Not one like all the others I’ve met and had towel incidents, or made bacon sarnies (one truck load) or cups of tea for (two truckload, different incident).  The one was young, good looking and also a personal trainer.  You know – the sort you see on those tacky firemen calendars.  Just to remind you, I was a sweaty heap.

So this is a public service announcement.  If you are selling your house, don’t prepare for it in one of the hottest days of the year by sitting in your conservatory.  You never know who is going to turn up!  :o)

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Norman is much better at dealing with hotness than me…

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Pog Towers 2?

Posted on August 23, 2016 by thepogblog

You know how a while back I went out just to look at some furniture and came home having bought a wardrobe a third of the size of the one I already had?  Well, I’ve kind of done it again.  Only this time it isn’t a wardrobe.  It’s a house…  And yes, it is actually smaller than Pog Towers (if things work out, I’ll explain what seems like sheer stupidity but does have some Pog logic).

As I was only really going to look, and wasn’t actually going to put an offer in, I’d not even considered putting Pog Towers on the market.  I wont go into all the details, but my offer has been accepted and the race has very definitely been on for the last week to get Pog Towers online.  It’s all been very grown up.

First the estate agent came round to value the house and arrange to take pictures.  I asked what he needed me to do to prepare for the photo shoot.  He looked around and suggested a clean and ‘quite a bit’ of de-cluttering.

I spent three nights cleaning with an enthusiasm I rarely have for something I consider so tedious.  I threw out bags of clutter.  I put even more in the loft.  Pog Towers shone.  It just wasn’t entirely de-cluttered.  So in the hour before the agent arrived I put an awful lot of stuff in cupboards.  When I ran out of cupboards I filled the fridge, the grill and the oven.  I was so proud.  I really thought that I might manage a grown up thing in the style of an actual grown up.

That evening, the only blip was when he said he wouldn’t take a photo of my bathroom as it was too small to get a decent picture.  I told him that after 2 hours of ****ing cleaning in there, he absolutely would be taking a ***ing photo.  He obliged.

The next day the link came through… Pog Towers is now online and available to buy.  I looked through the photos.  there were some good ones:

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And I found it very funny that Mum appears in the ones out the front (she’d been an angel and sneaked down when I’d been at work and made the garden look presentable after I’d tried, but basically just butchered it, and the agent turned up a day early to make sure he just some outside pictures in the sun):

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But then it went Pog style.  The first thing I saw on this picture was the fact that I’d ‘hidden’ the cat food in the oven:

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And that bathroom picture I’d insisted on?

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Well, it looks like I have a man trapped in there…

Despite all this, I do have some viewings this week.  Possibly just people wanting to rescue the man, or check out what’s on the menu, but you never know.  Please keep your fingers crossed for me.  I love Pog Towers, but I do need to sell it in quite a speedy way to be able to secure Pog Towers 2, and I think you’ll like number 2 as much as I do.  :o)

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It’s the thought that counts…

Posted on August 21, 2016 by thepogblog

We all know, that when it comes to presents, it’s the thought that counts, right?  And I do appreciate that thought has gone into every present I receive, but sometimes I do wonder exactly what that thought process was…

Yesterday The Lovely Nut came to visit me.  The Lovely Nut is almost 80, very lovely and a complete nut.  She is also the mother of an ex from my dim and distant past. Her driving terrifies me so I convinced her to catch a train.  I picked her up and we had a lovely day exploring various Bumpkinsvilles and talking a lot.  She also very kindly bought me some presents.  Each was wrapped individually in a mix of pretty paper, paper napkins and elastic bands.

She often finds things she thinks I will find useful and was very impressed with her find of a pen loop (‘you can stick it inside your handbag darling, and you’ll always be able to find your pen.’). And everyone needs tissues, and they are very pretty:

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It started getting slightly weird at this point:

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I suppose everyone does get sore throats though, so I am sure the spray and throat sweets will come in useful.  And the same with the blister plasters.

Then it just got peculiar.  I have no idea what made her think of me when she saw these:

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But you know, it is the thought that counts.  I just wish I knew what that thought had been.  Or maybe not…. :o)

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