Thursday, January 19, 2012

Whining

One of the great advantages - for the cats - of my having retired is that I am often on hand to turn a tap on, so that they can have a drink. They do, of course, have a nice bowl full of fresh water, conveniently situated on the kitchen floor quite close to the door from the dining room, the room in which they spend most of their time. But they don't like this much. They much prefer nagging one of us till he/she gets up and provides running water for them.

Today has been a little trying and it's salutory to remember the days when I didn't have time to do any of the things that I've found difficult today. For example, when I was working I wouldn't have been able to have a second dishwasher chap come to the house, scratch his head in cheerful bewilderment - "I've never seen a dishwasher with this fault before" - and depart, saying that he'll need to order a part. At least he had a cheerier outlook on life than the previous bloke. Time will tell whether he's better at getting the thing to work. It might have been cheaper just to buy a new machine.

And, if working, I wouldn't have had the time to watch the kitchen tv while tidying up after breakfast, and wouldn't then have discovered that it said "No Signal" - a bit tedious, since we got the aerial chap to fit a new aerial last week. He comes back again tomorrow, though of course the tv was working again at lunch time, though saying "No Signal" later on again. What's the betting it'll be fine when he comes to call?

Nor would I have had time to take my mum to her lunch with the Probus Ladies' Club, from where she was supposed to phone me to retrieve her. I think we've now established that she can no longer remember how to work her mobile phone. Or at least, she phoned me all right but I think that she wasn't holding it to her ear because though I could hear lots of conversation, I couldn't hear her and she couldn't hear me. This situation took quite a while to resolve but I got her back in the end.

However, when I was still employed I might have been driving the car to work, in which case I would still have noticed the whiny sound that it's developed. This became apparent just after I dropped my mother off for her lunch. In my experience, car whiny sounds are not good. And are expensive. I'm taking the car to be investigated next Wednesday. I hope it manages to stagger on till then.

I know, I know: some people don't have dishwashers, televisions, mothers, cars. It's not that bad. But, you know. It's not that good either.

At least we do have cats.

8 comments:

  1. Oooh, domestic tedium. I hear you.

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  2. Our cat prefers running water too! Why is that? There is no better drink, in his opinion, than the one you get in a recently used shower, or from a leaky tap. Take heart Isabelle---Spring is just around the corner!

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  3. We have a fancy cat fountain for this very reason. They still come get me when it's not full to the very brim, because cats like bossing their humans about.

    I hope the car whiny noise turns out to be inconsequential, my uncle the car mechanic used to say "if the car rattles, turn up the radio", not a good long term strategy but it probably buys temporary peace of mind.

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  4. The Mof5:16 am

    Yes, you have the cats - and a gorgeous grandson and thoughtful children.
    Still a good whine is good for the soul!

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  5. Oh, groan, I have been there.

    I sometimes envy animals, with their simple little worlds!

    Lovely photo.

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  6. But if you didn't have the dishwasher, and the TV, and the car, and the mobile phone......you would be back to living as your ancestors did 100 years or more ago, washing dishes by hand, walking everywhere.....

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  7. Yes, sometimes it is worse being home all days and noticing all these domestic problems.

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  8. I hear you too. Ditto. One bit of the car is falling off after another. Just dire. My son wants a cat. Did I mention that I have spent all morning trying to clean the kitchen floor? When you can't bend or kneel to scrub, it is a horrendous job. I need a maid. Or something. If the sun would shine I may be more cheerful. I know.

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