Size Issues

13 Dec 2015 - 11 comments | Translate title into English

As regular readers know, this pirate is on the lookout for a new cooker. Quite some time ago the oven door was sticking, and needed more and more force to open it. One day I opened the oven door, and part of the handle came off. I thought I could repair it, and so with screwdriver in hand, started to take apart the door to fix/replace the screw only to find that it’s a rivet that I’ve snapped. Now I can still use the oven, however I need a chunk of 4x4 to keep the door closed and it’s far from ideal. I’ve been looking for ages now, and can’t find a cooker I like. It’s a small galley, so I’m limited to a cooker that’s 50cm wide and no more. It can’t have a lid due to not enough clearance to the extractor hood. It can’t have an eye level grill for the same reason. It has to be gas: I have no cooker electric point, and prefer gas anyway. I’d like a double oven but that’s not looking feasible. I won’t buy a brand by a certain 2 manufacturers: one has been in the press for some items catching fire, another I’ve had very poor customer service from in the past. Oh dear… I’m fed up of looking online now: I like to open doors, see the oven space, and touch what I’m buying. I’m leaving it now until after Christmas. I could get one before, but I’m worried that if there’s anything wrong with it, it could prove awkward getting a repair or replacement over the holiday period. I’ll wait…

I have one more week of work before I’m taking a much needed break. It should be quiet now that the wannabe pirates have finished for the term; however I’m expecting some in on Monday to run some tests. Damn them! Lol Hopefully there won’t be too many of them. The time they’re not in is a good time to backup up PC’s, recharge ‘stuff’ and generally tidy things away. Speaking of work, I asked two members of senior staff to provide a job reference, and have casually let slip that as well as looking for another job, I’m also investigating partial or full retirement. I’ve been asked to provide details of what I do, what I’ve done in the past, and have been advised that management have been told by HR to make a case for me to become full time for the one school in the one location. Not a new member of staff: me. Oooh…

My sore throat remains, unabated, and I’ve been to see my GP. She can’t see any sign of infection though did say I was very congested. She suggested I buy a good decongestant, and gave me a prescription for a nasal spray. The first 3 days of use I actually slept for 6 hours each night but I’m back to sleepless nights again. She said that the fact that my voice comes and goes is a good thing as opposed to losing it completely. I have to continue with the nasal spray for a few weeks, and if my throat is still sore I’ll go back after Christmas. I’ve had a sore throat now for 7 weeks and that’s not ‘normal.’ I also have earache, and both are keeping me awake. If I go back, with the same symptoms, she’ll investigate further. In the meantime paracetamol is helping with the symptoms, but not the cause.

Speaking of sleep, I’ve been waking up between 1.30am and 4am due to my stomach ‘growling.’ We have a good dinner around 5.30 to 6pm, and if my body thinks it’s getting breakfast at stupid O’clock it can think again! I need an upgrade LMAO

What I need is a good outing on the ship: the Jolly Roger flapping from the crow’s nest, cutlass between my teeth, a good swing from the rigging (sorry Bernie), some luckless pirate to walk the plank, and a good wind in my sails. We have the wind! Maybe a captured not-so-scurvy dog wouldn’t go amiss either ;) I’m taking the lifeboat out later for a nice drive to my favourite town. Who know what I’ll find…

We still have lots of rain here though have got off lightly compared to some. Even if I don’t get what I want regards my job, at least I still have one whereas a further 50-odd staff will lose theirs after Christmas. I have good health, mostly, and I have my family and some friends. Maybe it’s the time of year, but I’m feeling grateful for so many things :)

11 comments - The latest ones

Stormlizard ^club

Starting with your Oven Fran
How about looking around Junk yards for one of the same type that is defect but with a usable door, you could be lucky enough to find one at a place where a kind man will remove the door for you. Then you with some help can replace the one you used too much strength on, you would probably need to replace any rubber seal gaskets, but cheaper than a new one.

Yes no doubt you do feel like a break, the bit about what the bosses say sounds promising.

Sore throat, that is far too long, now you talk of ear ache, umm, ears, nose, throat and eyes being interconnected suggests something totally different, earache can often be coursed by a dodgy tooth or teeth, I suffered that once. However as I am neither Dentist nor Doctor you will need to consult one there.

Yes a nice trip to sea with a few to passenger to walk the plank or even Keel Haul will do you the world of good.

John.

9 years ago.

Bee Orchid

Thanks John. I did toy with that idea but I'd also need to replace the door seal which is coming away. The grill plays up - sometimes it goes out, sometimes it won't light, and the hob burners won't always light. It's had 10 and half years of good service and it was a cheap one to be honest so I don't mind that I need a new one. The size of the gap is the biggest pain.

Thanks Bernie. I didn't spy any worthy pirates lol. I'll pass on the sherry thanks, but maybe a small glass of port? Yum!

I'll definitely chase up my sore throat issue if it's still bothering me after Christmas. Locally, that fire is still burning/burning again and it stinks around here. I'm sure that isn't helping matters and some days we've been advised to keep doors and windows closed and stay inside. The fire department should put it out once and for all, and fine the company big time for polluting our air.

9 years ago.

Stormlizard ^club has replied to Bee Orchid

Ah, I had forgotten about that fire, yes whoever owns the place should cough up.

9 years ago.

Stormlizard ^club has replied to Bee Orchid

Yes Fran, I see your point.
Size is often a problem created by poor design by the builders. In my kitchen there is a power socket for a Dish washer, not that I need one being on my own but the space under the sink where it should be fitted is not high enough even if I remove the sink unless I can find a machine that is only half the height of a standard one. (If there is a standard), I also doubt that the cupboard is wide enough. The space allocated for freezer and fridge is also too small so I had to settle for a standard fridge and a half size freezer on top of it.

9 years ago. Edited 9 years ago.

StoneRoad2013 ^club

Your cooker's seems to a bit of a problem, Fran. However, I'm convinced that the people who design kitchens and the houses they are built into don't have to live in them, nor buy new "white goods" for them. Nor do the designers of said white goods think about fitting them into existing spaces. Got a similar problem with a fridge ...

9 years ago.

Bee Orchid

Thanks everyone. It's a very small house with a very small kitchen: a 2 bed terraced. I used to have an online friend who lived in a trailer. One day she posted photos of it and mentioned the size. It was bigger than my house! In the UK we're known to, generally speaking, have very small houses. We're a relatively small island with a huge population so land and therefore houses are very expensive. Way back in the 80's I stayed with friends in Canada who had a lovely bungalow, 2 beds, with a full sized basement, and wrap around decking on 10 acres of land. Their house cost the same as my then 3 bed semi detached house, in a housing estate with a pokey garden.

9 years ago.

Stormlizard ^club has replied to Bee Orchid

Yes Fran, generally a normal (By British Standards) what in here is called a one family house were about 76 Square meters of internal floor space with or without basement.
Here today the size is 140 Square meters internal floor space, they used to be much larger, as much as 220 Sq M in the mid seventies, size reduction was the result of astronomically high prices with very high interest on mortgages. Garden sizes remain large due to building laws not allowing individual houses to be too close together. In large towns and cities people live in flats (Apartments).
A one family house has a lounge sometimes including an open plan kitchen, or a kitchen, a utilities room for the washing machines etc, an entrance hall and three bedrooms one being larger. a bathroom and a toilet. Some houses are like mine with up and downstairs sections, others are single floor buildings. Cellars or basements are no longer used, they went out of fashion in the late fifties. There is a usable space above the ceiling (Loft or Attic) though seldom used as what people put up there should have been put on the dump 99 % of the time anyway.. All houses must have a driveway long enough to park 5 cars as it is illegal to park in the road. Most people have a carport.
All homes have central heating, many like I have a heat exchanger to heat water for the bath and kitchen the radiators are fed directly from the satellite hot water supply company, some use gas furnaces if there is a natural gas supply in the area.
Open fireplaces are no longer provided as there is far too much heat loss via a chimney. Santa has to ring the doorbell. LOL

9 years ago. Edited 9 years ago.

Mickey fez

replacing kitchen appliances can be a minefield Fran Good Luck
A busy run .in to the break and more to after it and all to do feeling under the weather with little sleep You need the break to regroup

9 years ago.

Bee Orchid

Thanks both. For now, I shall keep on propping the door closed with a chunk of wood lol. Maybe after Christmas there will be some decent sales :)

9 years ago.

Jenny McIntyre ^club

Oh poor you and the stove - it's a nightmare isn't it. They don't come cheap neither. So you want to be absolutely sure you like it before you shell out any pieces of eight. I'm so pleased that you still have a job, but if you really want to retire, then they're not making it easy for you. It was so nice reading that you are looking on the bright side, I try and do that every day - notice I say try LOL

9 years ago.

Bee Orchid

Thanks Jenny. I try...

9 years ago.

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