Friday Five:
1) Survived another week. In a more-or-less good frame of mind. The Daughter got a raise at work. She also made a King Cake early this week that was to die for! One job I applied for has closed (no word) and I found and applied for another one yesterday. Had tea out with the Daughter one day, and ate at Non Viet for lunch on another. Enjoyed being out of the house and walking around in the shops. Been pouring rain, on and off, the last couple of days, so back to being stuck in the house again.
Have plenty of American coffee in the house. Life goes on....
2) The cayenne pepper plants from last year are blooming and fruiting like mad in the north window in our kitchen.
The cowhorn peppers in the south window are blooming a little bit, and there are three fruits on them. The jalapenos, also in a south window, aren't doing much yet, but they do like a lot hotter/sunnier weather. The two-year-old superchili is also flowering again. So all successfully over-wintered. The new nosferatu pepper plants (from seed this year) have grown tall in the south window, but are not exhibiting the black color they were supposed to have. I am wondering if there's not enough sun yet for that? The horticultural oil I ordered seems to be working really well against the spidermite issue we had, as I'm not seeing the little b***ards on the plants anymore.
3) The Daughter ordered several items over the internet. One was sent via ParcelForce (oooh nooooooo). We were home yesterday - I was folding laundry in a bedroom and the Daughter was on the couch in the living room. Intercom buzzer went off. Daughter got up and walked (within seconds) to the entryphone and could see the PF driver, who pushed the "hang up" button just as the daughter was speaking. Driver apparently stuck a "missed delivery" card at the main door to the building and took off. Daughter found the card when she got home from having been out, last night, on the inside window ledge of the entryway. (I assume a neighbor coming into the building took it from the door and put it there.) Card said it's been taken to a PO we are not familiar with - looked it up online and it's some distance away. She could go there and pay to collect it, or pay for redelivery. This all, of course, put the Daughter into quite a state.
She sent an email to the vendor, who has already responded that they have contacted PF with a complaint and that redelivery has been requested. Said it'd be "Monday or Tuesday" as they have to go pick it up back at the PO. Which means someone has to sit at home literally until the package arrives, as we won't know when it is really to be delivered. (Monday is our "go out and eat lunch together" day.) And if it's the same delivery driver, she'll have to be prepared to immediately run to the window when they hang up after 8 seconds waiting on the intercom and shout down at them that we are at home.
Have had to do this before with PF. I think the Daughter thought the woman had gotten entry into the building and was on her way up to the flat, so she didn't follow up on it right then. If it had been me, and I'd seen it was PF, I'd have been to the front window ready to shout out the window at her. It was literally the time it took to hear the buzzer, stand up, walk 4 meters to the phone and answer it. If it had been me up at the front of the flat, it would have taken longer as it takes me a few to get up from a chair. Have raised a pointless complaint with them via twitter, but don't expect much from it. We are both relatively healthy and mobile - people who have trouble getting around are getting shafted by PF if this happens all the time. (As they charge for re-delivery.)
4) The joiner came to look at our window leaks yesterday. Same guy who came last year. Put silicone calk everywhere there was to put it. Said it looks like poor installation of the outside bits, to him. Relayed that on to the landlord (no response). I assume I'll see the leaks and the joiner again next March.
5) Would like to get our settlement/pre-settlement paperwork taken care of. Have to go to Edinburgh to get our biometric chips scanned. Apparently they are still charging (the Home Office) the 65 pounds each that they are not supposed to be charging, until the system goes "live" after Brexit. If we wait until after Brexit day, it's supposedly only the £14 pound processing charge each at Edinburgh Council offices we'd have to pay. Trying to decide if I want to try to get it done in the next few weeks, before the crush starts, and assume that the £130 I'll have to pony up is just gone for a long time, or.... I know we'll both get pre-settled status, but we do want to travel this year. I'm concerned that the Daughter will have trouble getting back into the country if we leave it, without some sort of post-Brexit status, since her "Family member of EU citizen" card will be void.
Sigh. I try to not turn the news on, other than the local news, often these days. If I fire up the Roku and watch the USA channels, it's the Donald. If I watch the UK news, it's that clusterf*** going on down in London, constantly. Or snitty little back-and-forth wars between politicians. Thankfully, April the Giraffe is pregnant again, and due to deliver this month. I can watch her on the web cam on the Roku, to get away from "people".
