Doing my bit

Well, I successfully did some washing, and cleaned the uber messy utility room. It's now spanky clean and beautiful. I also vacuumed the stairs, that was pretty tiring, three storey houses are all well and good until you have to clean them. In fact, that pretty much wore me out, and as I am now very schnuffly from all the dust, I have come to bed, to start watching Dexter.

I also made it to the Post Office to send off three parcels, so I'm feeling quite productive, though it was hard work, as I'm suffering very badly at the moment with my anxiety. Sometimes I get outside and freak out, and though I didn't do this today, when I was in the PO, some mega chav came in speaking really loudly (and chavily) on his phone, and it scared the bejesus out of me. Still, made it back in one piece (I can walk to it) so it's all good. Will walk Ozzy later on when Hefty gets home, for one thing the weather has been crappy, but also, at this time, there are a lot of school kids hanging about and that also makes me anxious!!!

I'm a nut-bar! Medically confirmed though so I shouldn't be surprised.

Just found this anyway, and thought it was worth posting:



What a marvellous excuse to keep shopping, I'll certainly try and do my bit :0)

Right, my eyes are so sore I can hardly see, so I'll sign off. MIght not make it through Dexter actually, if I can't see then I can't watch! I'll never get round to this......

Thursday Ramblings

Last night I went to Ming and Francoise's house for dinner and a film. The film in question was 'Twilight,' which I still haven't made my mind up about. We spent a lot of the film shouting 'Get on with it!' and looking confused at some of the mega randomness going on. I half wondered if I needed to watch it again to 'get it,' but I've now come to the conclusion that it's the concept that appeals to me, so really I should just buy the books.

I really need to watch series 2 of Dexter because 3 is currently showing and we've been Sky+ing it. Agh! That means I need to put a whole day aside and just sit and watch it! It's not that I don't have a whole day (or all the days) to do this, it's just one of the reasons I'm so crap at watching TV is that I have to be in the mood, and I'm very often not. I can pick up a book any time and just start reading, but watching something is a real chore. I know I'll enjoy it once I've got going, but I'm struggling with the 'getting going' part.



Yesterday, I was uber pro-active and successfully organised our study. This was a major task, as although we have the main components of a study (book cases, filing cabinets), we have thus far failed to do any kind of filing. Small piles of post turn into big piles of post, and with nowhere to put them (without effort being involved), they invariably get stuffed into a bag and re-stuffed in a cupboard. SO, I decided enough was enough, and I was gonna do me a cull! Seven (yes SEVEN) hours later, all our post was filed and nicely put away. All envelopes (because if we know it's a bank statement we don't bother opening it) in the recycling bin, along with the junk mail, and the shredding box is now full of stuff to shred (funnily enough)! I can keep on top of it now that I have drawers to put things in, so I really feel quite pleased with myself :0)

Today I might try and get some Dexter in, but I also wanted to have a good clean of the house. However, I'm also trying to write a book, and I really need to get on with it, as I have an outline, a title, characters, plot, but so far, one paragraph. I think I tried too hard to write it, as in, I was trying to write what would be the finished version, but I have now realised that really, I just need to write lots and lots and then I can go back and change stuff. Blimey, seems like I have a lot to do today.

The weather is pretty miserable here today, rainy and grey, most depressing. But, I guess it means I can do all of the above without thinking I'm missing out on the funshine.

I'm sat in bed as I write this, large mug of filter coffee, Ozzy at my side, it's all good, but I feel the need to mention a phenomenon that has become apparent. For some reason, Ozzy smells like digestives. Mainly his paws, but when he moves, a whiff drifts my way. I've noticed this throughout his lifespan, and have no idea why this should be. However, there's something rather comforting about it, so it's all good by me.



Right, it's nearly 9.30am, best get up, will need to take Hefty to work shortly, and then on with my 'To Do' list.

Toodle.

Top Tip

Sometimes, tips appear near the top of my Gmail account. They're mostly a load of tosh, but I saw this one today and thought it was a bloomin good idea! So I decided to share it!



Genius.

Slight return

Well hot diggity. The SHAME. I haven't blogged since January! There are no acts of apology big enough to redeem myself on this one, but I think it's pretty clear I lost my blogging mojo. I want to call it 'blo-jo', but that sounds far too much like something else so we'll stick to the original phrase.

I did a lot of thinking last night, and that's why I decided to get back on here and slap some words down. I went through a period of not writing because I believed I had nothing to say, certainly nothing interesting, and who would care anyway? Then I realised that that's not necessarily the purpose of a blog, and it's not why I started one all those years ago. It was a place for me to air my thoughts, adventures, general ramblings etc. and keep track of them for future reference, hopefully so I can look back through the archives and exclaim 'Oh yes! I had forgotten about that!" and other acknowledging statements. Obviously it's pretty darn cool if people do read it and comment, but I need to force myself to do it for my own sanity, for recently, that is something I have been lacking.

So, I'm going to ease myself back into it by talking about two recent acquisitions that have been very welcome additions to the Pandah Palace, DVD boxed sets of Poirot and Columbo.

I'm a big fan of boxed sets, I love the packaging (even if it's crap), I love the feeling that you've got em all there, and mainly I like them because I am utterly rubbish at watching TV. I might see something advertised and decide it's worth a watch, but then I forget, or I see the first part and miss the rest. RUBBISH! We recently got Sky again which has helped with this because I have set up series links for the two programmes I watch, CSI: New York, and The Mentalist (a new show that I FORCED myself to get into because I thought I'd like it, and I do!). However, most of the other things I like to watch and have missed, are now in my collection as boxed sets, which means I can watch em when I like, and it works a helluvva lot better than me trying to remember anything! My favourite boxed sets that I have watched in their entirety but still dip into because I love them so much are:

Murder She Wrote
Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection (the Jeremy Brett one)
The Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes Collection
Tru Calling
Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
Pushing Daisies
The Tudors

Now, I had been looking at the Poirot BS for YEARS, but it was always mega expensive, and all the others I have were the result of clever internet shopping and continual price checking:

- Murder She Wrote was actually a gift from Hefty for Easter last year so we'll ignore this one!

- Sherlock Holmes should have been £149.99 and for some bizarre reason, HMV had it up one day for £39.99 so I pounced! It quickly went back up to £114.99 which leads me to wonder if it was an error, but what do I care, it cost me 40 squids!

- The Basil Rathbone SH Collection was a Christmas present from Hefty, but by all accounts, it had randomly been dramatically reduced, so it's all good!

- Tru Calling, possibly my most successful bargain. Was around thirty punds on all the main sites for ages, then one day Amazon had it on there for £6.97! £6.97???!!! Bat-shit insane I say, but once again, I pounced!

- I bought Randall & Hopkirk (the original, not the shitty Vic & Bob one) before I went into hospital last October. It wasn't that much of a bargain, about £30 again, but I pictured days of boredom whilst I recovered and cos it was my favourite show as a child, I couldn't resist. As it turned out, I was SO ill that I never watched any of in hospital, but when I eventually got out, I made up for it!

- Pushing Daisies was £11.98, which I think is pretty good, though I pre-ordered series two for about £18, but I love it so much I'm prepared to bare the increase!

- The Tudors was craftily marketed. To buy series one was £7.98, to buy series two was £13.98. To buy series one and two in the same set was £17.98. Clearly, not a huge saving, but a saving nonetheless, and more convenient because there's a lot less packaging to contend with and it's all in the same box. SOLD.

I'm currently contemplating the 'Maid Marian and her Merry Men' set, it's on Amazon for £28.98, the complete set, very tempting, but I'm scanning the other sites in case a Summer Sale pops up and it drops. It's not that I'm tight, far from it (as anyone who knows me and my shopping habits will testify), but sometimes you feel like you're being ripped off, and my random checks on other sites soon turned the art of DVD price comparing into a sport. And when you bag a bargain, it's very satisfying!

Anyhoo, I love Poirot, always have, but it never seemed to drop in price so I had begun to think it would never be part of my collection. Then, when Good Friday rolled around and the Pandah Palace Easter celebrations began, there amongst my other giftages was 'Poirot: The Complete Collection'. Good old Hefty! And what a boxed set it is! It's glossy and shiny, fabulously packaged, and even has the most recently televised episodes in! I have pretty much made my way through it all, but I've also watched a fair few episodes again, I really do love it that much!



Now, I don't mind Columbo, I used to hate it but have grown to appreciate it over recent years, but Hefty loves it. So, when it appeared on Amazon for £35.00 (the full set again) he felt it was too bargainous to miss! So, we have also been watching that and I have to say, I have rather enjoyed it! I still find Peter Falk kinda creepy, he looks like he needs a ruddy good wash, but there's no denying it, Columbo is a genius, and I have taken great pleasure in seeing the smug looks wiped off more than a few famous faces (including Shatner Tim!).



So there you have it, a lengthy discussion about DVD boxed sets. Citin ey?!!

I'm going to watch some more Tudors soon, Hefty is working from home today which is always nice. I'm not very well at the moment so spending a lot of time in bed sleeping and just chilling really. I'd like to get back in to reading, I have a couple of books on the go, 'Sovereign' by C.J Sansom, I loved the first two books he wrote, all part of the same series, and 'Dexter in the Dark' by Jeff Lindsay, again, I've read the others, this is the latest one. Got a headache at the moment though, so I need to get off here and be text free for a wee while!




Ciao for now people, nice seeing you again.

iP