Eve of Holiday

Jo and I are virtually packed - but Ross has still got it all to do tonight. He finishes work at 5 pm however, so he has plenty of time. It's a very early start for us all - and Gary is meeting us at his office near the airport at 4:45 am tomorrow!

After Monday's traumas with the boiler, the rest of the week has been fairly routine. I've managed to get out on my bike 4 times - two fairly short solo ones, but a couple of decent runs with some of our group on Monday and Thursday. I didn't quite make it to 100 kms this week - just 4 kms short. It's all helping to get rid of at least some of the extra weight I put on in USA this summer - just in time, as no doubt the next two weeks will mean it all goes back on again. Yesterday, the scales showed me at 12 stones 10 lbs (178 pounds or 81 kgs for my overseas readers) - still too heavy, but retirement has generally been good for my health so far - I almost hit 14 stones last year when I was still working. I spent all my time in my car or at my desk and when I got home, I was too tired to do anything - I only realise this now. Perhaps I should have retired earlier after all. Now all I have to do to lose more weight is stop taking holidays!

The Rotary Club have put up another bench on the Deeside Way and I tried it out this afternoon on my cycle:

I looped up from there past Crathes Castle and back to Ross' work at Buchanan's for tea and raspberry shortcake al fresco - very nice. I'd had my brakes fixed at the bike shop this morning - they were screeching - and wanted to try them out. The brakes, gears and front suspension are the really positive aspects of this bike when compared with my old one (which Ross is now using), although the tyres are a good bit fatter - useful on muddy, off-road tracks, but a lot more friction when riding on tarmac.

Tuesday was Inverurie as usual - I drove there, but then caught the train after tea in to Aberdeen for a CAMRA meeting, whilst Jo drove home.

Thursday night was the big disappointment for Scottish football fans - let's hope our rugby team do a little better tomorrow. One heroic failure is enough for this week.

Bad start to the week

For once, I slept in a bit this morning - I didn't wake up until 7:15 am. I was still tired and would have liked to roll over but I remembered that the fitter was arriving at 8 am for his second attempt to install our new boiler, so up I got. It was a bit of a struggle - I had been bitten by some little beastie yesterday on the golf course and my forehead swelled up. At bedtime, I had taken a precautionary anti-histamine pill and I'm not sure whether it was the bite or the pill that made me tired and drowsy.

The fitter came in and went round the house checking everything out - in the attic, bathrooms etc - something the surveyor had failed to do. When he got to our en suite and saw our shower, he casually remarked "that won't work after the new boiler goes in". "What?!!!" says I. "That's right - the new boiler will bust the seals of the shower"!

Nobody - not the salesman, nor the surveyor, nor even the fitter when he'd been here on Thursday - had mentioned this possibility to us before. I immediately regarded it as a deal-breaker, whereupon the fitter phoned his boss, who then spoke to me. He disagreed with his fitter, but did admit it was a possibility, but we shouldn't worry as, if that happened, he would replace the shower cartridge. I asked for this promise in writing and duly got it, but this second cock-up/miscommunication had unsettled me, so I decided we needed to check the exact details of what he was going to do.

The first question was what was the power output of the boiler? 29kw he said. I checked the contract and it said 35 kw was to be provided. Now I was really unsettled - three strikes and they're out. The fitter's boss got on the phone again, protesting about me stopping the work being completed, but he eventually accepted my reasons for taking a step back.

So, we've put it off until we come back from holiday - and we're going to check out another supplier.

We were disappointed, but felt we had to err on the cautious side. The only slight upside was that I could now join the Monday afternoon cycle - and I did.

Ross came round late morning - he no longer works at Tease, but had started work at Buchanan's Bistro at Woodend Barn on Thursday and wanted to explain to us what happened. Of course, it's not nearly so convenient for him to get there, but, having myself acquired my "new" bike on Friday, I was able to offer him my old one to help him get to work. A little bit of extra exercise won't do him any harm anyway.

The weekend's weather was lovely again, but a change is afoot. We got rain this afternoon and more is forecast for tomorrow. Ah well, it was nice while it lasted.

We got our flu jabs early on Saturday morning and I went to Pittodrie to watch the Dons in the afternoon, before heading to the Masons' house for a lovely dinner on Saturday night, but I'm afraid I don't have the stamina any more to stay up after midnight, especially after a giant meal and lots of booze. The following day is always a bit of a struggle - although I did manage a game of golf in the morning, but after that, I had no energy.