A Long Way for a Bookcase...

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend - it was very chill and bitter here all weekend although today, it's been gloriously sunny. So much so, I caught this picture (just) as the sun went down this afternoon across a housing estate I pass on the way home.

Men should always keep their trap shut when they have bright ideas. Mine was to go and visit IKEA on Saturday having failed to find a bookcase at a reasonable price in local shops or on the Internet. I've never been to an IKEA shop in my life. I thought it was a good idea at the time but the hyper-shop was over an hour away on the motorway along the M62 corridor around the Leeds area. So off we toddled.


The shop was huge - my colleagues who are all regular attenders warned me that it was large and you followed a path with arrows. That all seemed to work fine and we spotted our bookcase fairly early on for about a fifth of the price it would have cost me in 'Next Home.' However, my other half insisted that we go round the whole shop 'you never know what we might see.' Well an hour later, I was just about fed up so I insisted on going to the canteen which was very nice (lovely bun) - however we didn't have the meatballs that everyone recommended.

Then we had to get three bloomin' large heavy containers with our bookcase and get it to the car. I asked how much it would cost to get it delivered and because we were outside the catchment area, we would be £100 poorer. So we managed to get it in the car, just and arrived home with most of the day gone.

Overall, apart from not being very interested in shopping in IKEA, I was impressed with the scale, variety and price of the stuff there. It's a shame that there wasn't a shop closer to me. I guess when it comes to kitting my lads out if and when they decide to move out, that would be a great and economic place to do it.

Now Sunday was not so successful, in that, while it was a relaxing day, I smashed a cup when I knocked it off the kitchen work surface onto the tiled floor and then I spilt a whole cup of steaming hot cappuccino on my keyboard. The third thing ('to go wrong' as the saying goes), thank goodness never materialised, but it cost me for my clumsiness, £40 for a new keyboard and mouse. Not happy.

The day however finished well with a viewing of Iron Man 2 on DVD that my son had bought a few days ago. Rollicking entertainment, a little dark in places, lots of whizz bangs and action, something we didn't have to think too hard about.

I hope you have a great and successful week.

Don't forget to say 'White Rabbit' three times for luck tomorrow morning. Goodbye January.

Chat soon

ta-ra.

I've Had an Idea, Dear...

My cat bought a bird in the house today, sadly already dead although not a mark on it - I guess shock got the better of it. Not only is this very upsetting for me but ironically, the bird he bought in was a hedge sparrow, a bird we have not had in this area for all the fifteen years I have been in this house.

We put bells on their collars and bird food is put on high bird tables that the cats can't actually get onto. I'm not sure what other practical ideas I can come up with.

We went shopping today for a couple of halogen light bulbs for the security lights. We arrived back home having: chosen a potential new carpet for the living room, decided on a complete living room makeover, thought about new light fittings, chosen a couple of bookcases we might like to replace the rickety ones we have now, bought some bathroom fittings to get stuff off the bathroom window sill and six cans of windscreen de-icer.

How the hell do we manage to do these things? I know the answer. Simple minded married men like me are manipulated by very clever women who put their ideas into our heads. They then encourage us to come up with ideas and solutions which match their plans as if they were our ideas - and hey presto! Job done. If you could bottle this stuff, it would be worth a bloody fortune!

We've both had a bit of a tidying rush to our heads around the house and I've even tidied (most) of my computer room which is a rare potential twice a year event. I was wanting a desk top book shelf but I can't find a decent wooden one for less that £45, so I've opted for less attractive very practical office-style bookends. This will allow me instant access to my spiritual material which I keep in a box under my desk. I'm now on the lookout for some ornamental and heavy bookends.

Well this weekend I thought I'd do a sort of a list which isn't exactly a list but it's near enough to a list and it's on one of my favourite subjects, the difference between men and women.

• God made man before woman so man could have time to think about the answer to woman's first question.
• Woman are crazy and men are stupid. Women are crazy because men are stupid.
• Women always want the last word in an argument (mine certainly does!) Anything a man adds after that is a new argument.
• A woman will dress up for going shopping, putting the bin out, answering the phone, doing the gardening, reading a book and having her feet done. A man dresses up for weddings and funerals.
• Men can 'do' their fingernails with a pen knife; keep the same hairstyle for years; have shoes that don't deform their feet; only have to shave their chin; and choose whether or not to grow a moustache!

Discuss.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Chat soon

ta-ra.