Catching up

Detail at the top of a column, Melk, October 2012

I have been back from our New Year holiday for more than a week, and have nearly caught up with blog posts waiting to be read, not helped by Stan Madeley who has started up again and has been posting loads of his letters that didn't get replies and so didn't get into his book, 'Second Class Male'. OK, plug over. Podcasts - well, I'm not sure I'll ever catch up, although when I start driving for 10 hours a week there may be some chance.

On Saturday morning I thought I would make a brief list of the few things I really must do this weekend. When I reached the bottom of the page I realised that it would be a busy time. Factors affecting work to be done during the weekend: parental computing woes; last weekend spent constructing a large bookcase and consequent rearrangement of crap in room; unexpected death of 'new' freezer. The last has prompted interesting meal choices - we are eating large amounts of thawed veg, yesterday was fish pie made with all the fish previously frozen (including fish fingers), today and tomorrow will contain vast amounts of meat, with leftovers providing all meals for the next week. Cereal for breakfast is forbidden; let them eat bacon. Not that we're complaining about that one.

Freezer death combined with my disorganisation over the past few months means that at present, neither Mr A nor I can find the receipt for the dead freezer, nor for the washing machine that we also bought recently. We suspect that they are hiding somewhere together, as it is unlikely that we would have thrown them out. Bank card statements will be of little use because both were bought with vouchers redeemed from TV-watching points. On the positive side, roast beef sandwiches for lunch were delicious.

There is little more to say about work that hasn't already been said. We were two Dietitians down last week but we had three nearly-qualified students helping out, and it wasn't too bad. I have just under two more weeks to go before the new job, when I imagine there will be much more to report. My last clinic: only four patients attended, of whom one was entirely fine, which made me feel like I should keep him talking because the journey to and from the hospital plus the pain of parking and then sitting in the waiting area takes a disproportionate amount of time and effort compared with the five minutes of a consultation.

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I wrote the above at the weekend, intending to publish before the week started. But I had a badminton match on Sunday and things were delayed and you know how it is. It's only Tuesday, but there have already been developments. The bad news is that Stan Madeley has given up his blog, through lack of readership. The good news is that the freezer has returned to its operational state, simply by pushing the plug back in. It must have been dislodged slightly by Mr A, whose bike equipment is kept in the cupboard where the electrical socket is. So the additional life-enhancing exercise of Mr A cycling a bit over the past few days has been negated by the enhanced saturated fat-filled intake of meat products. We lost out on some frozen veg and bread, but I think we've managed to consume everything else.