Friday Five!

1.  I’ve had a bit of a Zoom life this week which has been nice. Talking to adults!  Yippee!  Going to make more plans.

2.  Going to do our first virtual quiz tonight.  Friends theme. 

3.  Been trying to solve the “no computer” conundrum.  iPad doesn’t always cut it.  Still trying to think of solutions. I have two VERY old laptops (had several years in the US before moving here 10 years ago!). I can’t get either to connect to the internet and the one that works best randomly freezes all the time.  Still working on it!

4.  My husband is hesitant to move forward with our extension right now. I obviously agree his points but as the earliest any builder could start *before* COVID was winter this year and another summer 2021, I think we shouldn’t worry. But I have filled my evenings creating a kitchen using IKEA’s online planner if we just keep our same footprint.  It’s been fun and WITH appliances it’s £4K. Why we didn’t do that 5 years ago when we moved in, we have NO idea!   

5.  I may venture out of the house to Costco tomorrow!  Haven’t left the house since March 20!

Hope everyone is staying healthy and doing okay!

• Mouse and keyboard for my laptop were delivered today - finally! Only £20 for both from Argos and I've only been using them for a few hours but my shoulders and back already feel much better.
• Husband has two job interviews over the next two weeks, both for jobs down near Glasgow. Fingers crossed he gets one of them! It'd be great to start looking at houses and really planning our (much delayed) move closer to family. Timing is obviously TBD anyway but it's a major piece of the puzzle.
• My sister and her fiance have officially cancelled their visit in July. Not a surprise by any means but I'm still really disappointed that I won't get to see them.
• Friday night is takeaway night in our house so I'm really looking forward to my curry!!! It's my husband's turn to host his friends' pub quiz too, which means lots and lots of laughs. They all lived together at uni and are still really close so I usually leave them to it but can hear his belly laughs throughout the flat anyway - it warms my heart every week!
• Some cute friend news: I got a sweet card in the post today from one of my best friends, who lives down in Suffolk, telling me how much she appreciates me and can't wait to see me once this is all over. It almost made me cry! Luckily we met up in London in early March so I've seen her pretty recently. I ordered a wee gift box full of stuff from small shops in Glasgow and had one sent to her and our other friend yesterday. That's where we all met but they're both back in England now so I know they'll love it!

2.  Going to do our first virtual quiz tonight.  Friends theme. 

Ours last night was alcohol-themed! 

Ours last night was alcohol-themed! 

Oooooooo, me likey the sound of that.  My life is alcohol themed at the moment!

My Friday Five:

1. Like many of us at the moment, I am just tired and fed up right now. Not fed up of being on Ascension necessarily, because I can't complain about being here, but just fed up with the insular life here and some of the people around me. Tensions are a bit high between everyone at the moment and it's getting to me. Two of the girls upset me at the bar last weekend and it's left a bitter taste in my mouth (as I had thought we were friends, or at least were friendly to each other, but they were acting selfish and cliquey and basically made me feel like crap and like I was unwanted there).

2. We had a new Met guy arrive on island last week, who will be replacing my colleague. He's in isolation for another few days, but once he's out, we should be able to do stuff together in the afternoons (because my other colleague just naps every afternoon so I'm left to find stuff to do on my own). The new guy and I worked together in the Falklands last year, so we already know each other.

3. Was very happy on Monday when my Boots order and new sandals arrived in the mail off last week's plane. I was in desperate need of the new sandals as both of my pairs here are falling apart, but the Amazon tracking for them said the package was running late and probably wouldn't be delivered at all... so I requested a refund Monday morning and then 15 minutes later I discovered they had arrived after all!

4. Now I just have to hope that the face wash I ordered from Amazon, and shorts I ordered from ASOS arrive as well (both of which should have been delivered to an RAF sorting office in the UK by the end of April and neither of which appear to have been delivered there as of yet - I don't even think the ASOS order has been dispatched yet)

5. Looks like my July Italy trip is almost definitely going to be postponed again (just waiting for an official announcement from the convention company), which I'm glad about because I really don't think it will be possible to travel/attend gatherings by July anyway.

1. Had zoom pub quiz with work colleagues this week. First time we’ve seen each other since lockdown day. It was nice to see everyone and catch up.

2. I’ve spent the morning making myself a mask for tomorrow’s grocery run. I used a workout headband I got for Christmas and cut it in half and sewed ear loops onto it. Hand stitching is not my forte.

3. Got some new workout gear today and now have the most comfortable leggings from Amazon. Cannot wait to take them out tomorrow. I feel fabulous.

4. Trip to USA has been canceled. Hope my refunds actually show up. Quite disappointed as we were trying to hold out but I don’t see us getting anywhere close to being able to fly before end of June. Maybe next year. Haven’t seen my family since July 2019.

5. We ordered paint to renovate the kitchen cabinets and it should be here in the next 3 weeks. Is was trying to put it off but might as well do it now.

3.  Been trying to solve the “no computer” conundrum.  iPad doesn’t always cut it.  Still trying to think of solutions. I have two VERY old laptops (had several years in the US before moving here 10 years ago!). I can’t get either to connect to the internet and the one that works best randomly freezes all the time.  Still working on it!

  Maybe you should get a Raspberry PI.  Do you have a screen, mouse and keyboard?  Is cost the sticking point?  Can you use Google docs instead of Office?  Are you picky about the OS? 

  Maybe you should get a Raspberry PI.  Do you have a screen, mouse and keyboard?  Is cost the sticking point?  Can you use Google docs instead of Office?  Are you picky about the OS? 

Keyboard and mouse, yes.  Monitor, no.  I’d prefer a laptop.  I’m an Office user, I’m afraid.  I spend my life in Excel.  It did choose to run on my iPad this morning without requiring me to pay a subscription, so I may be okay.

Cost is a big factor.  At some point I’ll end up back in work and have a computer from them.  So don’t want to spend much, but don’t want a piece of crap either.

For some reason my BIL all of a sudden has 2 Microsoft Surfaces.  He says he will send us one.  But he’s soooooooooo flaky.  I’ll believe it when I see it with him.  I’d be very grateful if he does come through.  Would still need to buy Excel but no big deal if that’s all I’m buying.

1. Had zoom pub quiz with work colleagues this week. First time we’ve seen each other since lockdown day. It was nice to see everyone and catch up.

Wow. I'm still catching work colleagues every single work day on conference calls** so I well caught up with them, haha. I want a break from them!


**Though this is nothing new as I spent my life pre Covid-19 on calls with suppliers all around the world.

1. Like many of us at the moment, I am just tired and fed up right now. Not fed up of being on Ascension necessarily, because I can't complain about being here, but just fed up with the insular life here and some of the people around me. Tensions are a bit high between everyone at the moment and it's getting to me. Two of the girls upset me at the bar last weekend and it's left a bitter taste in my mouth (as I had thought we were friends, or at least were friendly to each other, but they were acting selfish and cliquey and basically made me feel like crap and like I was unwanted there).

Do not worry about those girls, they are probably just jealous. And always remember how much we all love you! 

Do not worry about those girls, they are probably just jealous. And always remember how much we all love you! 

Aww, thank you  .

One of the girls left the next day - it was her last night. She was also my next-door neighbour, and had been nice to me up to that point.

The other girl, however, I have to spend the next 2 months with. She arrived mid-March and I had thought she was nice. We chatted a few times, but I hadn't seen much of her lately due working long hours, and in the meantime she became closer friends with my neighbour. She's been giving me this vibe recently where I feel like she's judging everything I say or do (like, I asked her who I needed to call to report a fault with my air con and she just gave me a look like I was stupid for not already knowing), and she was pretty rude to me in the bar last weekend.

Aww, thank you  .

One of the girls left the next day - it was her last night. She was also my next-door neighbour, and had been nice to me up to that point.

The other girl, however, I have to spend the next 2 months with. She arrived mid-March and I had thought she was nice. We chatted a few times, but I hadn't seen much of her lately due working long hours, and in the meantime she became closer friends with my neighbour. She's been giving me this vibe recently where I feel like she's judging everything I say or do (like, I asked her who I needed to call to report a fault with my air con and she just gave me a look like I was stupid for not already knowing), and she was pretty rude to me in the bar last weekend.

I like to think karma will take care of those people!

I like to think karma will take care of those people!

That too! 

Aww, thank you  .

One of the girls left the next day - it was her last night. She was also my next-door neighbour, and had been nice to me up to that point.

The other girl, however, I have to spend the next 2 months with. She arrived mid-March and I had thought she was nice. We chatted a few times, but I hadn't seen much of her lately due working long hours, and in the meantime she became closer friends with my neighbour. She's been giving me this vibe recently where I feel like she's judging everything I say or do (like, I asked her who I needed to call to report a fault with my air con and she just gave me a look like I was stupid for not already knowing), and she was pretty rude to me in the bar last weekend.

And we are talking about a Zoom call.  If you’d like to join, let us know your schedule next week (any evenings free UK time?).  Happy to work around your schedule, particularly if it’ll help you get out of the Ascension bubble!

Keyboard and mouse, yes.  Monitor, no.  I’d prefer a laptop.  I’m an Office user, I’m afraid.  I spend my life in Excel.  It did choose to run on my iPad this morning without requiring me to pay a subscription, so I may be okay.

Cost is a big factor.  At some point I’ll end up back in work and have a computer from them.  So don’t want to spend much, but don’t want a piece of crap either.

For some reason my BIL all of a sudden has 2 Microsoft Surfaces.  He says he will send us one.  But he’s soooooooooo flaky.  I’ll believe it when I see it with him.  I’d be very grateful if he does come through.  Would still need to buy Excel but no big deal if that’s all I’m buying.

Pi doesn't sound good for you then.  Hope you like the surface it it comes.  They look cool.