I’ve been working at my new job for long enough to have accrued some holidays, so I’ve taken a week off. Which is to say, 4 day’s rest, 4 day’s holiday, 4 day’s rest. 12 days off! Oh yes, I do like this job. I did another 2 days overtime before my hols. So that’s 3 days this month. I think I will get that in my next wages. The driver I did my induction with said 3 days was the optimum, if you do more they take most all of it off you in tax. I’m looking forward to seeing what that’s worth. I think I might do 3 weeks of 5 on, 3 off, per month. Leave the last week of the month as 4 on, 4 off. That would be nearly £55k pa! Bloody hell! Ball park figures of £800 per week take home, so roughly £500 per week spare. Yeah, I think I’ll totally do it, if my wages reflect my estimation. I’m not sure what we need that much for, but retirement is rushing towards us, we will need all we can get.
Talking of, I finally beat the Pru. I battered down all the online obstacles and made the claim. That took forever so I had to do it all again, but this time the Pru said I was locked out of accessing the policy online. A cunning ploy to take me out of my native environment, but to no avail. I rang up and they are sending me the cash. Should be in the bank tomorrow or the next day. Also I managed to sell the SV650 for £700 this week. I paid for our new picture to be framed with it, and the rest I’ll deposit tomorrow. With that and the pension money we can pay off the bike loan in one go.
Here is the new picture. I wouldn’t have got it if I’d have known how the bill would keep on going up (import duties, framing) but we’ve got it now. And It’s stunning.
I had planned on upgrading the kitchen after paying off the bike loan. Get a 12 month interest free loan and get it done. Apparently they can leave the cupboards in place and just change all the doors. With that and a new work-surface cover, the guy on the ‘phone said it was running at around £5- 6k! And they only do the interest free loans for homeowners. Wendy was keen for a new kitchen, but not that keen. Still, if I am bringing home that much, we could get it done in a few months. In a way it’s throwing money away as we are just renting tenants, but we do have to live here. And it is only money. We’ll see.
The VFR hasn’t sold. I’ve listed it twice on eBay, it’s still running on Gumtree and I’ve put it up for 2 weeks on Autotrader. If it still doesn’t sell I might just keep it as a winter bike. I really don’t fancy running the Tracer on salty and sandy roads. It’s quite a new bike (2017) and still very pretty. The engine isn’t faired, so winter could ruin the look of it.
I fitted the lowering dogbones on the Tracer. Hell of a faff for 18 mm. Oddly enough, it does make a difference. If I scoot forward on the seat I can put the balls of both of my feet down. It’s only really an issue when I’m parking up at home. I ride it up the pavement,then around the front of Wendy’s car. When I was doing that I couldn’t put my right foot down, so I was scared I was going to overbalance and drop the bike. Now I can toe the ground and that’s enough to reassure me. The bike remains a hoot. It’s been chucking it down on and off. It seems with climate change we get scorched all summer then go into a monsoon season. Which is nice. So I’ve not been able to do anything too silly on it. Or go for a decent ride. When Wendy is working I’m planning on going to the east coast to a beach to hunt for some fossils, then up to Whitby, then back across Yorkshire, possibly into Kendal to score some genuine Cornish pasties, then down the M6. That will give me a splendid ride out with several destinations. I lose the will to keep riding if I don’t have a destination. I found out, while looking for something else on a MT09 forum, that Ali Express do a cheapo GPS mount for the bike, and you don’t need to fit a fancy-arse, top-dollar, GPS system, you can get a screen that do CarPlay (links to your ‘phone and uses your apps). Done and done. The screen is already here, the mount should be arriving tomorrow. Pop that on, and I’m ready for my ride when Wendy goes to work.
I’ve still not heard from the DVLA. No news is good news. But I have heard from the hospital. I’ve got a telephone consultation in just over 2 weeks. Hopefully that’s a step closer to the operation.
In other news, Lisa had a terrible day. Dad’s mate, Nick, rang her from Bulgaria and said “There’s no easy way to say this, but your dad is dead.” Lisa cried her eyes out for 10 minutes then Nick ‘phoned her back. “Good news, he’s not dead.”
Whoa! I’ve got BPD and I’m often emotionally bewildered, but I would make damn certain someone was actually dead before I’d tell their daughter. Apparently dad was motionless on the bed, but when they crow-barred the door off, he was still alive. Dr Nick said he was paralysed. Lisa was off her head with it all. He’s been in hospital for a few days, but he was released today. He looks awful, but he was totally alive and un-paralysed as he was getting out of the car in the pictures. Lisa has flown over today to see what she can do. Patrick has gone with her, despite dad telling him he wasn’t welcome last time, which is really good of him.
I expect I’ll get the full story of what the hell has gone on tomorrow. Big day.
Poor Lisa. I would say poor dad, but he stubbornly refuses to come home where he could be looked after, so of course this is how it’s going to end. To be fair, he’s got dementia so he’s not rational, but even so, it can only end like this.
I do not want to go out like that.
And on that cheery note,
Later.