One Success follows Another!

It's been a surprisingly successful week.  It began on Sunday when, with my food-shopping out of sync, I had planned a pub lunch.  Unfortunately by Sunday morning, I had forgotten this resolve and it wasn't until someone asked 'have you anything planned for lunch today?' that I remembered.  By then, of course, my plans weren't required, because my answer was followed up by an invite to join the questioner and his wife to dinner later.

Monday saw the final session in the online genealogy course, which was appropriately interrupted by the arrival of the postman, who delivered a marriage certificate I had ordered only last Tuesday from the National Archives of Ireland (notwithstanding that this was for an event in Co. Fermanagh, so I wasn't sure that it would be successful).  How's that for service?!

Last week I had advertised my now-redundant 'awning-cum-marquee' on eBay.  On Wednesday, I discovered how their system works.  Despite my checking the website frantically as the deadline approached, the process is so automated that I didn't need to at all.  I had a message saying the item was sold, and another from Paypal telling me, in effect, that I'd got the cash, so I'd better get on with sending the goods!  Now, the 'goods' comprised the tent part, all packed away in its own bag, a long bag with the poles and pegs, a set of rods with a canvas strip that constituted the 'fitting kit' and, completely separate in its own container, the additional underlay that I was selling with it.  The whole lot couldn't easily be assembled into one despatchable item, and was in any case beyond the weight limit for most services.

Years of experience told me quickly that the best way to send it was by courier - the old trio of possible necessities (urgency, fragility or value) came into play, with two scores out of three.  But why waste all those years of practice?  It took only minutes for me to decide to take it to Yorkshire myself.  The journey was only just over three hours, and I enjoyed revisiting a past life ... all the more so, knowing that I wouldn't be doing the same thing tomorrow, and could take my time getting home again.

Yesterday, I woke up with a headache.  That was caused by the sinusitis, which has now outlived the prescribed medication, and is prompting me to consider a return to the medical professionals next week.  Apart from the physical, I also woke up with a definite idea from somewhere, that my lounge could benefit from a partial re-arrangement mirror-wards.  So, with very few interruptions, and following an intense session of on-screen planning, I have now changed what was (in cricketing terms, thinking of bookshelves as fielders and the armchair as the batsman) a 6-3 offside field to the right-hander into a 6-2 offside field to the left-hander.  As a result, I expelled from the field one computer screen, one bookcase and one lampstand, along with about 140 assorted books.

The single items were immediately offered on freecycle and the screen was picked up while I was still filtering the books between 'not-wanted', 'must-keep', 'might-be-useful' and 'could-probably-do-without'.  To my amazement, the collector was one of the town's parochial clergy, who was only too eager to snaffle up all the theological rejects, leaving me with a heap of rejects that had accumulated on a makeshift workbench in the bathroom (board for making up extra bed in motorhome placed over the bath).  These have now been neatly packaged into three boxes ready for next week, when they will be foisted on an unsuspecting charity shop!

With all that success going to my head, I now need to come quickly back to earth and finish planning my next motorhome expedition ... but more about that in the coming weeks!