Mischief and other things

[Faery_Light]

It has been a very noisy, busy week with company staying here.
A niece came up to stay a few days and she had to go to STL for medical follow up, had her husband and son with her.
My older brother came up for a week as well and he is here till Saturday.
The others left tonight so it is some quieter...whew!
We did a house-warming/Christmas dinner Sunday and really had a house full.

Now back to normal things.

 

[Hornet3d]

It has been a very noisy, busy week with company staying here.
A niece came up to stay a few days and she had to go to STL for medical follow up, had her husband and son with her.
My older brother came up for a week as well and he is here till Saturday.
The others left tonight so it is some quieter...whew!
We did a house-warming/Christmas dinner Sunday and really had a house full.

Now back to normal things.

Good as it is to be with family and friends there are times when it is also good to unwind and relax a little, so make good use of it and chill.

I think we are about to enter such a phase as I seem to have sorted my home automation, at least for the time being. It sounds really stupid/lazy I know, but the advantage of timer and voice control is you can hide the power sockets. For example the socket for our display cases is buried inside a cupboard that is behind the sofa. Not a problem until you have to physically switch it on and off. Getting up in the morning to put up the heating so we have a warm bath room to shower in is not an issue but I prefer to do it from the warmth of my bed.

That sorted, and my wife now finished with all her pantomime performances gave me to the time to wrap her presents which now only needs a few bows and some ribbons added. Again sounds easy but the last couple of years I have been doing a slight twist on the twelve days of Christmas which I think is meant to start on Christmas Day, but I start giving my wife a present on each day starting twelve days before the big day ending with the big pile on the 25th. I like doing it but finding so many presents and wrapping them all is time consuming particularly as I seem to buy some of the most awkward presents to wrap. With the pantomime over we also had time to take my sister and niece out to buy a real Christmas tree that my niece was so keen on doing. Got my brother, who is over from Poland down to the cemetery to lay some wreaths on my parents plots. Getting rid of the old doors was a pain as they would not go into the car despite removing the dog cage and putting the back seats down so we decided to pay the local council to take them away only to find they will not take them for some reason. I looked at hiring a van to take them to the local recycling center but in the end decided to saw them in half so they would go in the car, despite the fact I felt guilty for ruining what was some serviceable doors. Glad I did not hire the van though as the recycling center guy said they had to go into general waste, which means landfill, as there was glass in them. I was always under the impression you could recycle glass by sort of heating it to a high temperature, just shows how wrong you can be.

So here were are, presents wrapped, doors gone, decorations up all that is left is the inspection by the In-Laws this afternoon and then all off to a carol concert this evening. Tomorrow it should all start to get quieter.....I hope

 

[Faery_Light]

Good as it is to be with family and friends there are times when it is also good to unwind and relax a little, so make good use of it and chill.

I think we are about to enter such a phase as I seem to have sorted my home automation, at least for the time being. It sounds really stupid/lazy I know, but the advantage of timer and voice control is you can hide the power sockets. For example the socket for our display cases is buried inside a cupboard that is behind the sofa. Not a problem until you have to physically switch it on and off. Getting up in the morning to put up the heating so we have a warm bath room to shower in is not an issue but I prefer to do it from the warmth of my bed.

That sorted, and my wife now finished with all her pantomime performances gave me to the time to wrap her presents which now only needs a few bows and some ribbons added. Again sounds easy but the last couple of years I have been doing a slight twist on the twelve days of Christmas which I think is meant to start on Christmas Day, but I start giving my wife a present on each day starting twelve days before the big day ending with the big pile on the 25th. I like doing it but finding so many presents and wrapping them all is time consuming particularly as I seem to buy some of the most awkward presents to wrap. With the pantomime over we also had time to take my sister and niece out to buy a real Christmas tree that my niece was so keen on doing. Got my brother, who is over from Poland down to the cemetery to lay some wreaths on my parents plots. Getting rid of the old doors was a pain as they would not go into the car despite removing the dog cage and putting the back seats down so we decided to pay the local council to take them away only to find they will not take them for some reason. I looked at hiring a van to take them to the local recycling center but in the end decided to saw them in half so they would go in the car, despite the fact I felt guilty for ruining what was some serviceable doors. Glad I did not hire the van though as the recycling center guy said they had to go into general waste, which means landfill, as there was glass in them. I was always under the impression you could recycle glass by sort of heating it to a high temperature, just shows how wrong you can be.

So here were are, presents wrapped, doors gone, decorations up all that is left is the inspection by the In-Laws this afternoon and then all off to a carol concert this evening. Tomorrow it should all start to get quieter.....I hope

Yes, having family visit is fun but can be stressful.
However, the young man, my niece's son, and her husband always help out on cleaning and cooking so the house is never left in a mess.
That is a big boon for my daughter who has many of the health issues I have and more.

It gets very noisy with all talking and laughing though, my poor ears, the aid amplifies all that!

 

[Hornet3d]

Yes, having family visit is fun but can be stressful.
However, the young man, my niece's son, and her husband always help out on cleaning and cooking so the house is never left in a mess.
That is a big boon for my daughter who has many of the health issues I have and more.

It gets very noisy with all talking and laughing though, my poor ears, the aid amplifies all that!

Always great when the family members muck in a help, I know we all did when my parents were alive and they used to have everyone home for Christmas lunch. They were good times and sorely missed.

I can relate to the difficulty with noise. Normally it is just my wife, myself and the dog, so when we have a family get together the noise is quite something and I finish up with either a headache or my head spinning. It was the carol concert last night which we all enjoyed so now I am in the Christmas mood and starting unwind.

 

[Satira Capriccio]

Oh, I hear you guys on family/social noise!

It's just me and Tsuki, and she's not much of a talker, so when I'm in any situation with a lot of people talking, it's overload!

 

[Faery_Light]

Any noise situation gets me due to the Meniere's affecting my ears and the new aid increases the level.

Yeah, most of our family dinners we had help on cleanup.
My daughter is raising her kids the same, and their boyfriends too...lol.

But the granddaughters and their boyfriends clean house all the time, not just for family doings.
It's just the way my daughter was raised and she raises hers the same.
My sister was like that so her daughter is like that and her family.

Takes a load off just one person having to do it all.

Now it should be a few months before the niece and family have to return for her to get more tests done but they may visit anyway.

 

[Hornet3d]

Any noise situation gets me due to the Meniere's affecting my ears and the new aid increases the level.

Yeah, most of our family dinners we had help on cleanup.
My daughter is raising her kids the same, and their boyfriends too...lol.

But the granddaughters and their boyfriends clean house all the time, not just for family doings.
It's just the way my daughter was raised and she raises hers the same.
My sister was like that so her daughter is like that and her family.

Takes a load off just one person having to do it all.

Now it should be a few months before the niece and family have to return for her to get more tests done but they may visit anyway.

My father always brought his sons up to be able to look after themselves so long before we left home we were able to wash and iron clothes, to cook and generally get by. This was the 1950- 60s and not very common at the time, at least none of my friends were raised in the same manner. His view was we may never get married and if we did it was only fair we shared the chores. When I lived abroad for a couple of years with my wife only visiting ever six to eight I was very glad I was able to cope relatively easily.

 

[Faery_Light]

I used to watch all the TV sitcoms that showed men bing so idiotic in the kitchen and was puzzled by that.
My dad could cook and clean as well as my mother, both were great cooks.
Most well known chefs were men and most still are.

I've never understood where the notion came from that only women belonged in the kitchen or men in the workplace.

 

[Rae134]

we're having a bbq at the park on the 23rd with all of my hubby's family (first time they are all together for a while). And I'll go and visit the in-laws again on xmas day for a couple of hours but it will be the first time in over 20 something years me and Adam won't have xmas together as he has to go back to work the day before (he works away from home, about 9 hours away).

 

[Miss B]

Nine hours away?? That's one heck of a commute!!

 

[Rae134]

haha, yep, that's why he's gone for 2 weeks at a time (his new roster is 2 weeks away/2 weeks home, it used to be 3 weeks away/1 home so even tho they are longer days for him its nicer for him to be back longer)

 

[Miss B]

True, I think I'd prefer that as well.

 

[Hornet3d]

we're having a bbq at the park on the 23rd with all of my hubby's family (first time they are all together for a while). And I'll go and visit the in-laws again on xmas day for a couple of hours but it will be the first time in over 20 something years me and Adam won't have xmas together as he has to go back to work the day before (he works away from home, about 9 hours away).

Great to hear you will be having a good family Christmas but sad to hear you and Adam will be parted for the big day.

 

[Hornet3d]

Well we are only just through the half of the day here in the UK and what a strange day I have had. Not only have I already dropped a couple of things (luckily they bounce), splashed myself with water (luckily cold), missed a parcel I need to go and pick up except I am not expecting anything and I have been treated to some strange customer service as well. End of last week I order a set of four new tyres for my car. Girl on the end of the phone told me they would be there on Monday and they opened at 07.30 so I got up early to beat the traffic and get the car sorted, despite the fact I needed to de-ice the car, so I could get on with my day. When I got there the delivery lorry was there and when I booked the car iin the receptionist said my tyres would be on the lorry. She kindly got my wife and I a drink from the coffee machine and we settled in the waiting room. Lorry drove off but no sign of any work being done. Guys came in from the workshop and the receptionist asked if there was any way of telling what tyres would be on the lunchtime delivery, to which the answer was a resounding NO. They then talked about a party one had attended and then, quite a few minutes later the receptionist called my wife up to the desk to tell her the tyres weren't there and would be in lunchtime. Now I was happy to accept the tyres were not there but I took exception to her talking to my wife as I had been the one who ordered the tyres and booked the car in. Not only that, clearly despite the fact that she said the tyres would be there lunchtime, it was a hope on her part not a given. I was left feeling that my wife was being lied to and the only reason they were dealing with her was because she would be a soft touch. Wrong, she cancelled the order which was worth only a little short of £600 and we have now ordered on line and, for an extra £6, I can have them fitted at my home. Well it would have been and extra £6 except I saved £40 as I was buying four tyres. Remains to be seen if the fitter turns up when agreed but at least I can being doing something useful, like playing with Poser, while I wait.

What upsets me the most is the high street is complaining because footfall is down another 9% this Christmas and they say it is due to on line shopping and the fact the on line stores do not pay their full share of tax. That may well be the case but if they treated people properly when they were on the street the footfall just might go up. It may just be it is easier to blame someone else for their troubles than look closer to home.

 

[Faery_Light]

When I shop it is online.
I can't go to a store and walk around anymore due to sudden weakness and nearly passing out.
Only time I go is if my daughter puts me in a wheelchair cart and pushes it.

Customer is getting bad everywhere it seems I think a lot id due to the fact that so many people forget to teach the young manners.
Then they grow up rude and treat people rudely, not caring how it affects their jobs.

Our generation learned manners were important everywhere, I taught mine that way and my grandkids are learning too.
We teach by example as well always being polite to them when we need things done, a please and thank you or you're welcome,
A willingness to help people t the best of their ability is taught as well.

Maybe by doing this they will pass it on and soon there will be better services in stores and places we need to do business with.

But I've heard so many younger ones say it is old fashioned, we can't force our values on them and so on.
Why can't they see good values and good manners are never old fashioned?

 

[Hornet3d]

When I shop it is online.
I can't go to a store and walk around anymore due to sudden weakness and nearly passing out.
Only time I go is if my daughter puts me in a wheelchair cart and pushes it.

Customer is getting bad everywhere it seems I think a lot id due to the fact that so many people forget to teach the young manners.
Then they grow up rude and treat people rudely, not caring how it affects their jobs.

Our generation learned manners were important everywhere, I taught mine that way and my grandkids are learning too.
We teach by example as well always being polite to them when we need things done, a please and thank you or you're welcome,
A willingness to help people t the best of their ability is taught as well.

Maybe by doing this they will pass it on and soon there will be better services in stores and places we need to do business with.

But I've heard so many younger ones say it is old fashioned, we can't force our values on them and so on.
Why can't they see good values and good manners are never old fashioned?

I often wonder if it is the fact that people think good manners are old fashioned or whether the lack opportunity to learn and perfect social skills just means many are not able to gain such skills. I certainly feel there is an inability to see anything from another point of view, whether that us due to a lack of imagination I am not sure. I know some people put my views down to me just being a grumpy old man and they could be right but when I hear my niece complaining about people of her own generation being rude and little or no control over the behavior their own children, I do wonder. The point that seems to be lost is that the people that lose out the most are the people themselves. Often they are not listened as many have a serious lack in any ability to be able to explain their views, wishes, and concerns to others, leading to only more frustration and misery for them.


Strangely while I have been writing this I have had a call from the company now supplying my tyres to say they have them already (perhaps they found four that were no longer required locally) and they have a slot tomorrow so would I like my tyres a day early. We will see how this turns out but they seen keener to have my custom than the other lot.

 

[Desertsilver]

On the subject of manners, I've worked in customer service for decades, and my personal experience has not been that the younger generations are in any way more rude than their elders. My experience and that of my co-workers of many different ages, is the complete opposite, in fact. And believe me, it is discussed quite a lot in the break rooms.
There is even a standing joke that no one wants to work in our store that is an an elderly community -due entirely to the fact that the elderly ( 60+ ) customers are , as a group, so consistently cranky, demanding , impatient and rude.

 

[Faery_Light]

Odd, but I guess then it's just the way some people are.
One would think if they value their jobs they would act better.
There are some stores and other businesses in a town (I won't mention the name) near here where I refuse to do business with due to most all are rude.
Even when I was the only customer there they would ignore me for 30 minutes or longer, then act as if it was a burden to wait on me.
Another town close by where we do business with all, everyone is nice and helpful, stores, clinics and hospitals.

 

[Hornet3d]

On the subject of manners, I've worked in customer service for decades, and my personal experience has not been that the younger generations are in any way more rude than their elders. My experience and that of my co-workers of many different ages, is the complete opposite, in fact. And believe me, it is discussed quite a lot in the break rooms.
There is even a standing joke that no one wants to work in our store that is an an elderly community -due entirely to the fact that the elderly ( 60+ ) customers are , as a group, so consistently cranky, demanding , impatient and rude.

Well I do not think it is a solely an age related problem and I not only taught customer service for many years I spent the last eight years of my working life in retail. I totally agree that the elderly can be equally rude and, in my experience, more likely to become violent. I always try to remain polite, such as this morning, I was not rude to the receptionist just said politely that she could cancel my order and that I would take my business elsewhere.

 

[Rae134]

I think the elderly are cranky because they are sick of getting treated as less than human (I've seen it happen).