A lady customer collected her photos from the counter and had a quick look at them. Half of them were under- exposed resulting in what looked like a foggy day on her pictures.
She complained.
She blamed the photo-processing.
She blamed the film. (One of our own brand.)
She told the girl who was serving her that she was too young to know anything and was incompetant.
She demanded to see management.
Management saw her and tried to placate her.
I returned to the lab from my lunch.
As I am the photo-processing expert, I was called over.
I looked at the film. I looked at her camera. I took her batteries out and tested them.
"Your batteries are flat," I told her. "Your flash hasn't gone off and that's why youv'e got under-exposed negatives."
There I was, relaxing in the armchair, after the evening meal, with a nice mug of coffee. The children were watching CBeebies channel. Bob the Builder was on, with the Tweenies next. I decided to read the local evening newspaper. ( A link if you want to catch up on all the local news.)
The wife said to the kids, "Come on, Bob the Builders finished, time to go upstairs to get ready for bed."
Wife and kids disappear.
I crack on with reading newspaper.
Quarter of an hour later, wife returns.
" Why are you watching the Tweenies. " she said.
And there it was, my secrets out, I'm a Tweenie addict. Of course I mumbled something about not being able to find the remote, but the fact remains, I was caught watching a kids programme.
I've known from my last visit before Christmas, that she wanted to pull a tooth that had been troubling me. She wanted to pull it then, but as I wasn't in any pain and I'm a bit of a coward, I declined and made another appointment, which came around yesterday.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not scared of going to the dentists. I don't mind getting a scale and polish, a filling or getting a tooth pulled. It's not the pain I worry about. It's the aftermath of the novocaine that I dread. 3 hours of dribbling through one side of your mouth. 3 hours of feeling like your tongue is twice the size it should be. 3 hours of lisping. When you have a drink, you have to take it through the opposite side from the numbness, and your not sure if it's going to dribble out again. UUgh, it's awful.
She showed me the tooth after it had been pulled out. Not a pretty sight. There was a hole in the side of it.
Yes, I'm still here and ready to bring you up to speed on what has been happening in freezing Yorkshire.
Absolutely nothing, unless you count my little girls 6th birthday on Thursday. We let her have 3 of her schoolmates around for a birthday tea. The lad, ( He being a womaniser!) was really showing off, but the girls weren't interested. They were having more fun pinning the tail on the donkey and passing the parcel, than watching the antics of an 8 yr old boy. They all had a good time and didn't want to leave when their mums and dads came for them. Although the wife and I enjoyed it, we were shattered afterwards. It was nice to get the kids to bed and relax with a nice cuppa.
Another thing of great signicance that has happened to me in the last few days, is the slow return of my voice. I'm not up to Pavarotti scale yet but I can do a fair Bing Crosby.
My wifes disappointed, she was enjoying the silence!
Regular readers to this blog know that I am the manager of a 1 hr photo-lab. (No, I don't look anything like Robin Williams.) In the course of my working day, I must look at thousands of photos, and after 18 yrs of doing this, all the photos begin to look the same to me. All the pictures of babies, the parents pride and joy and valuable memories, they all look the same. All the holiday pics look the same.( Most photographed place in the USA that we see in our lab is the Statue of Liberty, in Australia it's Ayers rock closely followed by Sydney Opera House.)
Asides apart, it takes something special for me to notice the subject matter and this last couple of weeks I've noticed pictures of young women, (18 to 25) snogging each other in night clubs. Not just a peck on the cheek or lips al'a french greeting style, but full on, lip kissing, 30 second jobs. Snogs a young lad would dream of having but would be too shy to ask.
I was a bit confused. Have all the women of that age turned into lesbians? Have they gone off men? When will the blokes start kissing each other?
I asked my colleague who happens to be of that age and luckily a woman.
"How come they're kissing each other then?" I asked.
"Oh, it's all the rage," she replied. "Ever since Madonna and Britney did it."
Tell me all your secrets, because at the moment my lips are sealed.
You see, I've got a touch of the laryngitis and it's bloody painful talking, and as for shouting, forget it. I think this a throwback from the bout of flu I had in the new year.
I went into work this morning and told them about my predicament and how I wouldn't be able to talk much because it hurts, (playing the sympathy card.)
The swines cheered!
One of the lads who works on the pharmacy counter told me to buy some Sandersons mixture. The label looked impressive, quote, "For the symptomatic relief of sore throats, hoarseness and catarrh."
"All you have to do is gargle with it and you'll be cured," he said, "You'll thank me for evermore."
So I bought some, mixed 20ml with water and went for a good long gargle.
"Aaachhhh," I screamed, "The stuff tastes like shite."
"Oh yeh, I forgot to mention that." he said.
So, if you have anything you want to tell me, I wont blab.
All the cake,chocs, biscuits and other fattening foodstuffs we tend to overstock on for Christmas. There is only a Terry's Chocolate Orange left, and the wife and myself are going to have a go at that tomorrow night whilst we are watching the junk that will be on tv. When thats gone it's back on the Ryvitas, salads, pulses, lean white meat, fish (non battered), a general low fat diet. I lost a fair bit of weight last year on my diet, but I've put some back on again over the festive period.
So, no more cheese and onion crisps, (potato chips to you Jody) or sausage sandwiches, or Kentucky Fried Chicken, or Steak and Kidney pie, or Coco Pops, or cream scones. Plenty of fruit and veg.
......98. I must update my blog everyday.
99. I must update my blog everyday.
100. I must update my blog everyday.
There, I've done my lines for being a naughty boy and not posting as often as I should. I've got an excuse tonight.
The hamster escaped.
We were cleaning her cage and the little thing jumped out of my lads hand and was off like a shot. They don't half move fast, before we knew it, Bramble was hiding behind the computer table. I don't like going round the back all that often because as you well know the backs of computers are a horrible mess. All those cables intertwined, and when you pull the table out half of them pull out. We managed to find the hamster but it took ages to reconnect everything.
1. I must not let the hamster escape.
2. I must not let the hamster escape.
3. I must not ..........
Has anyone had any dealings with a blog site called motime.
I've started a new account with them, (free one of course!) and am currently messing about with the html and template. If it looks good, maybe I'll switch over. I wont give the link to the site yet for fear of embarrassment.
Well, it looks like wer'e in for a stormy few days. A massive storm (for the UK) is sweeping eastwards off the Atlantic. It's already hit Northern Ireland with 100 mph gales. News reports say an articulated lorry got blown off a bridge and fell 100ft, killing the driver. The storm is due to hit our region around 3am. As I write, the wind has picked up quite a lot. We seem to have had a lot of extreme weather conditions in the UK over the last few years, flooding, tornados to name but a few. Everyone seems to be blaming global warming. At least we don't get it as bad as in some other parts of the world.
Anyone got any extreme weather stories from your part of the world?
They do say that english people like talking about the weather!
As you can see I've changed my blog-title. I never really was comfortable with being an Angry Old Man, I'm not angry enough to be called angry, I don't consider myself old and my wife says it's debatable as to wether I'm a man!
" Oh, and I need some Persil tablets as well." the wife said as I was going out of the door.
After the excitement of the last two weeks it was business as normal today. Every Sunday morning I take myself off for the mad trolley dash around our local Morrisons supermarket. I know this sounds daft but I actually like supermarket shopping. My wife hates it, that's why I do it. I've been doing it so long that I know where everything is in the store. I could probably shop blindfold. Even some of the checkout girls know me by name now. Theyv'e commented on how methodical I pack the trolley, heavy stuff to the bottom, light stuff to the top. I fear that I may be getting a reputation.
Another thing I always do on a Sunday, is cook the dinner. Yes girls, there are some of us men that can cook! Today was roast chicken with creamed and roast potatoes, carrots and January King cabbage, ( I steam the veg.) and homemade Yorkshire puddings swimming in onion gravy.
So if you want to hire a super supermarket shopper and cook, I'm available at very reasonable rates.
Wev'e got 90mph winds here at the moment, and , like a lunatic, I've been out doing my Provvi round in it. You often see TV news pictures of trees falling down and crushing cars when high winds are around so I didn't relish a portion of my round which involved driving down a stretch of road for half a mile, which was bordered on both sides by quite old and very tall trees. I was clenching my buttocks the whole length of the road expecting any second, one to come crashing down on my bonnet. Got through ok though, phew!
Whilst I was out, my mobile phone rang. It was my wife, letting me know she had an emergency on her hands. Whilst cleaning the hamster cage, the plastic tube that the hamster has made it's nest in, dropped on the floor and cracked open. She told me that Bramble was beside itself, running around the cage in despair. What I could do on the other end of the phone I don't know, but I suggested she try repairing it with sticky tape.
When I finally got home, all was calm, Bramble was remaking her nest. My wife had managed to effect a repair. The kids had calmed down. All was well.
Looks like a trip to the pet store tomorrow to get a new tube.
I wouldn't mind, but wev'e only had the hamster since Tuesday and it's already starting to cost me.
It was my lads birthday yesterday. He is now 8, going on 13 years old.
I took him and his sister to the flicks to watch the Incredibles, late morning which gave the wife time to get the food for the party ready. He'd invited a couple of his schoolmates around including one, out of his harem. I think the only reason he invited his girlfriend, was so he could show off. When she showed up, he was all over her like a rash. Doing all the gentlemanley things like taking her coat off her, holding the chair out for her, letting her have the biggest piece of cake. You know the sort of thing. We saw our son in a new light. We thought he was the real party animal.
She didn't. The only animal she had eyes on was....
Freddy was rocking to Planet Rock today! Freddy was driving and headbanging to Queen today! Freddy was supermarket shopping today! Freddy drank some red wine today! Freddy ate normally today! Freddy didn't feel like shite today!
Two days ago, I thought my end had come. I have never, and never want to have again, anything remotely like the flu I had. It started Wednesday evening with a cough and a sore throat, and by Thursday morning, I couldn't get out of bed. I was feeling a bit better yesterday, and even today, there are still traces, but at least I'm ready to rock. Just as well, cos I'm back to work tomorrow.
It's my lads 8'th birthday on Tuesday, and he wants a Hamster for a present. He got taken to a panto today by the parents of his big schoolfriend, so we were able to dash around and get the cage and other stuff, while he was away. The cage and all the bits and pieces are gift wrapped, but we will take him to the pet shop on his birthday to pick his own hamster. (No, you didn't think we'd bought and gift wrapped the hamster already, did you?) He's invited a couple of friends around for a bit of a birthday party on Tuesday, so that should be stressful! Probably for the hamster more than the parents.
Married with two children. A boy age 14 and a girl age 12. I have 4 goldfish,a black and white cat just like Postman Pat, a 7yr old Ford Focus 'C' Max and a mortgage.
The White Rose Of Yorkshire
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