So, today has been my last day of freedom before being back at work tomorrow, but then I am off again until Tuesday, so definitely no complaints!
Keith and I went out to Tesco this morning, and I bought a pretty decorated tree for my Mum and Dad for £15, which I thought was very good value. It was the kind that brought me out in a rash, though, so I was careful handling it! Mike had asked for an advent calendar, bless him, but we couldn't find one anywhere, trying both Aldi and B&M with no success.
We headed home and I put together all the things that Mum and Dad had asked for - a new portable DVD player that had arrived yesterday from Amazon, their Samsung tablet, aftershave for Dad and a new pair of reading glasses. I had two boxes to take in so I asked Keith to accompany me!
I had an appointment to see them at 12.40pm, so we left in good time as I keep getting held up by the builders every time I go just lately! Luckily, we arrived with minutes to spare and lugged all their purchases into the reception area.
The half-hour we now have whizzed by, and I was pleased with how my parents were. My Mum, especially, looked a lot better and seems to have put on weight, so that was good. Her face has definitely filled out more. We left at just after 1pm to get Mike from work, and the golf club car park was full! It looked like all the golfers couldn't wait to get back onto the greens!
Today the weather has been horrible, with dark grey skies and drizzly rain. Driving home Keith and I talked about the knocking noise my car is still making, and it now makes a grinding noise when I brake so I think it needs new brake pads. As soon as we got home Keith phoned the garage and they asked us to pop over with it. I wasn't that happy, to be honest, as I just wanted to stay at home but he insisted, so off we went out again into the gloom of the late afternoon.
The garage they have at Broughton is for MOTs only, so we had to drive into Kettering during the school run hour, and it was not pleasant! The garage is in a maze of streets and we couldn't remember where it was so I had to resort to using Google maps to get us there! We pulled up onto the forecourt and the younger of the two mechanics took it out for a drive.
While we waited we had a look at a selection of old cars that were being renovated, and one in particular, a black vehicle that Keith thought was a Standard, didn't have an engine, but the casing had been cleaned and re-painted. I peered inside and marvelled at how primitive it was! No seatbelts, a thin steering wheel and tiny little windscreen wipers!
The mechanic brought my car back, and then put it up onto hydraulics so he could look underneath. It felt very strange seeing it like that, and he asked how often I took it off-roading, no doubt noticing the mud from visiting my parents in the care home!
He couldn't see anything dangerous (nothing was falling off!) and we arranged to bring it in next week to have the brake pads replaced. Keith and I went home, and I resumed my peaceful reading of the newspaper with Sophie in the conservatory!
During the evening I noticed some WhatsApp messages and saw, with horror, that today at work had been horrendous. I thought at first that Sara was joking as she said they'd received over 500 calls and had had nearly 300 abandoned ones! I couldn't believe what I was seeing, but it was true!
Apparently, the online bookings opened at 10am this morning, the same time that our contact centre opened, and then the system crashed, forcing people to call us instead! Sara said that as soon as the phone lines opened, they had 59 calls in the queue, something she has never seen in all the time she's worked in customer service! She said the calls were mostly long and complicated with people booking multiple swimming sessions and classes. It doesn't bode well for us tomorrow!
I relaxed with a Gin and Tonic this evening, and had the first of my Gins from the Advent calendar that Keith bought me:
The first was a Blackberry Gin, and it was delicious with my Fevertree Aromatic tonic!
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