Lost in duvet

I have finally changed my bed from the divan box bed that I’ve had for as long as I can remember, to a king size wooden one.

The delivery from Dreams finally came yesterday and I had been advised at the point of sale that the bed would need minimal assembly. This turned out to equate to complete assembly required and the assembly notes indicated that this would take an hour. Now I am a competent person and I know my way round my tool box, but it took the best part of three hours to put the damn thing together.

Still, the difference from a double bed to a king size bed is immense. I swear that this morning it took ten minutes to find my way from the centre of the bed to the edge so that I could get up.

The new mattress is the firmest one I could find. I laid (and/or flomped) on most of the mattresses in the show room and ended up going back to the first one suggested by the somewhat young salesman. I tell you, it was sheer luxury and for once, I am looking forward to going to sleep tonight, as I suspect is the dog who is up there asleep right now.

The blind leading the blind

I am redecorating the house at the moment, virtually every room with the exception of the kitchen is going to get a fresh coat of paint, new carpet / flooring and a general refresh over the next couple of months.

At the moment I am half way through doing the ensuite and so this weekend I also repainted my main bedroom. Firstly I forgot how much gloss work there was and that took ages, in comparison the walls were done really quickly. It was the first time I had used Farrow & Ball paint, and whilst I was apprehensive about the cost, the quality is simply amazing and the finish now that the walls have dried is amazing.

I decided to change the blind as the old one was looking a little beaten up. Off I went to the shops where I bought a five foot long blind with wooden slats that I thought would nicely match the picture frames on the walls. Upon getting home and after unpacking the blind, it transpired that whilst the window was a five foot one, the blind was six inches too short. So I repacked it and drove back to the shops (having measured the window to make sure I had the right measurements). I swapped the blind for the size I needed, paid the difference and came back home. I unpacked the new one and with a sinking feeling in my stomach, realised that it was still too sort. The measurement on the box compared to the actual measurement of the blind was different. So, off back to the shop I went, where I had the same conversation with the same woman on the customer service desk.

After swapping the blind for the largest one that they had, which according to the measurements would just fit into the recess it needed to go into, I came back home, had a well earned cup of tea and then unpacked the third blind of the day.

Would you believe it, it was too fcuking big for the recess!!!

Rather than go all the way back to the shop and get my money back, I got my hacksaw out and cut it down to size, trimming the wooden slats with a very sharp pair of snips. It looks very good indeed, if I ever see another blind however I will scream.

Musical Squares

Yet another great idea stolen from Last Year’s Girl, you owe me an hour of my life back from doing this

1. What’s your favorite song? “Cold Roses” - Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
2. Favorite genre of music? This is a difficult one, but I’d have to say New Wave at present.
3. Favorite musician/band/singer? For some time it has been Frank Zappa.
4. What was the last song you listened to/are currently listening to? “She Sells Sanctuary” - The Cult.
5. What type of music do you dislike? Rap.
6. What instrument do you like to listen to the most? Lead guitar.
7. What instrument do you most like to play (or would like to learn)? Piano. I had lessons for many years and then rebelled once I discovered alcohol and girls when I was 15/16.
8. Where do you go or what do you listen to when you’re sad? “The End” - The Doors
9. What was the last concert or musical event you attended? Buena Vista Social Club, last month in London.
10. What concert or musical event do you wish you could have attended? Or a performer you would have loved to have seen live? The Cranberries. (It is a long story that involves a girl), otherwise it’d be Frank Zappa.
11. You and your sweetie, what’s your ’song’? If you aren’t paired off, what song do you think it might be? I’d like to think it would be “Come back to bed” by John Mayer.
12. What song gets stuck in your head the most? (For good or for bad) - “Fantastic Day” by Haircut 100, don’t ask…

1. Bizarre Schönheit, 2. Sea Power Glass Wall Wave, 3. Frank Zappa Press Conference, 4. She Sells Sanctuary, 5. LIL WAYNE LIVE, 6. David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, 7. Lee Plaza Piano, 8. End of the day, 9. Buena Vista Social Club, 10. Cranberry Lake, 11. Come Back To Bed, 12. A Sunset in a perfect mirror

Shorn

I feel naked.

In the space of two days I have cut off four weeks worth of beard and then this morning I have had my mountain man like hair cut so that it resembles hair from the western hemisphere rather than someone who’s been on a desert island for three years.

As a general word of advice though, I would always suggest that when you are using your beard trimmer to trim your beard close enough to shave it off, you should ensure that your beard trimmer is fully charged. Otherwise you’ll find yourself having to wait half an hour for it to charge up, whilst you still have 2/3 of your face covered in beard. That is not cool in the slightest.