Hopefully there wont be a fire alarm as I’m using my backup headphones which blocks out all sound except the music. My normal headphones have sadly died. Momentum 2 headphones. Amazing for blocking noise but also has that thing where it picks up voices and amplifies them so I can talk and listen. Anyways, bestie said I should check the warranty to see if they are still covered. Think they are 3 years old now. I cant justify buying a new set because I’m trying to save everything for the flat because I dont know how much it will cost to get everything moved.

The flat

Some good news though, a friend of D’s mum is moving away to poland and has loads of things he can give as he cant take them. So as if by magic I’ve now got a bed, sofa, washing machine, fridge/freezer, kitchen table and chairs and pots & pans. Which is awesome because I can then use the money saved to get other essential things. Today I was supposed to get a call to arrange to get the keys. Unfortunately , the housing officer is on annual leave till tomorrow so will have to wait a little bit longer. It would be fantastic if they are ready but not holding my breath. The council called today to say they have extended me for another week so I have some wiggle room with getting keys and moving a bed there at least. Or I’ll buy a self inflating mat with a sleeping bag. But yeah, I was disappointed as always.

Rage against the motel

Its freezing here again. Not sure if i talked about my mini heater and that it got banned after I led a revolt against the management here? well we are using them again. Well I am, only for a burst of ten minutes in an hour. I was sat in my coat last week it was that bad. I also have my carpal tunnel gloves on to head my hands up. Its sad that they can’t just leave the heating on all the time and people can just control the temp by changing the settings on the radiator. I guess its a trust thing. Either way I’ll stay warm with my heater. If I use it after 2pm I’m generally okay because house keeping will of been already. They stand close to the door to feel the temp of the room to make sure we aren’t using additional heating.

Sheffield!

I’ve set a date with bestie to meet up in February in Sheffield. I’ll be booking the hotel soon hopefully near the train station. Get there on a Sunday and back on the train on Monday. Just need to make sure there are no strikes going on during that time. Head to a pub, sit in the comfy corner, talk, talk and talk in equal measures with drink. Then stumble to the hotel at kicking out time, sleep and then breakfast somewhere. Looking forward to it. Maybe we can plan the fishing holiday later this year as well.

Friends and loneliness … again.

I miss having friends I think. I lost a huge chunk of them by moving away with no notice back in 2007. Then one who I thought was a friend but only realised they were using me (this was discovered two weeks ago) so lost him. I still have O, the bestie, and thats it. One. Probably my fault for not being social or making more of an effort to talk to people. I miss the days where I had lots of people to talk to on messenger but everyone has moved on with their lives. Maybe 40 is too old to make new friends. Its bothering me though. Its something that I’ve had all my life. Social one minute, recluse the next.

The family

The kids are doing well. B is obsessed with Flight Simulator now that he has the airbus controller with throttles, switches and designed to be a replica of the one in an A320. Scary that he knows the checklists, clicks on all the switches, knows what they do. There is a place in Barton that D found where you can use the flight simulator that pilots use. Really expensive but spoke to B about it yesterday and we agreed we will save up for him to go at some point this year. I imagine he will love it. Then tell the instructor how to do everything.S is progressing nicely with her musical journey. We scored an 82% match on spotify so I know she is listening to some good stuff. Some questionable such as sped up versions of Eminem songs. To eaches own.

Brother is doing better than this time last month when I thought he died and his ghost was trying to tell me to call the cops. I might of been delirious out of sickness at the start of December. I remember being at the house looking after the kids for a few nights in a row and he was suicidal. Hes ok now. Its a drug pattern which will happen at pay day as well after he indulges his nose and then has a come down a few days later. But apart from that, he’s been let off by the police after leaving the scene of a crash, hes working and his drinking is reduced at the moment.

And thats it I think. To the guys in my comments, we need a way for a three way chat (messenger? whats app?) and get a clan together to play online. Sure we can find a game that we can all enjoy.

Oh lets do some photos.