IT'S BEEN A WHILE

                                                                 IT'S BEEN A WHILE

My apologies for not having scribed recently but we've been busy clearing out my mother's house and getting it prepared for rental.  With a house that looks the same now as it did in 1981 when it was built, except slightly tired, there was quite a bit to do and it's surprising how one thing leads to another.   We were just going to decorate until we walked into the kitchen and realised that the lino really did need replacing before one could let it out.   We then looked at the brushed orange cupboards on the wall and realised that brushed orange is not a colour to attract a tenant.   So the cupboards have to go, along with the worktop and the base units.   You then realise that, in fact, it's easier just to completely gut the kitchen and instal new units, along with an oven, fridge and freezer.   Thankfully the boiler is only 2 years old, so that shouldn't need replacing - yet.   Fortunately, the bathroom isn't in avocado, though dusty pink it is still very eighties but at least it's clean.   My parents had carpet in the bathroom so that needs replacing.  The rest only need cleaning.   Being a landlord for the first time in my life, I also need to get an electrical somebody and a gas somebody to check over the systems and give me a certificate confirming that I haven't failed any EU dictat or extended British version.   So we look forward to that.   It's a bit like going into the Post Office as one used to do, with all your paperwork to enable you to re-tax the car.   It was always such a challenge remembering everything and such joy when they accepted your cheque and handed over your new disc.   But that was when we had Post Offices.

The other reason, of course, why I haven't been typing too much is that the computer has been buggered for the last few weeks.   It now appears to be only semi-buggered.   It seems to do what it wants to when it wants to and not what you want it to, when you want it to.   I've come to the conclusion that my computer is female.   Coincidentally, my wife, who is as always typing this, has come to the conclusion that it is male for exactly the same reasons!