Recently, we’ve had some ‘excitement’ here. I was in the bowels of the pirate ship (work to you) on Thursday, when we were plunged into darkness. A few exclamations went up, though within seconds the emergency lights came on. It was gloomy; however, I could see well enough. I was on a Blue pick, so carefully carried on working. After about 5 minutes, the lights came back on fully. I finished on a Blue pick, only to then be told that the system was down, and I couldn’t ‘sign off.’ Man, I was put out, and mentioned to the supervisor that I’d finished in the Blue. By the time I managed to sign off, I was into the Red. Ho hum. The tills didn’t work for a while which caused some consternation and complaints, but it’s not like we turned the power off ourselves.

That same evening, after I’d been released from the pirates, I was quietly watching TV, and contemplating bed and a hot water bottle, when our power went off. Good grief! The Deckhand and I lit some candles and got the torches out. I phoned in the fault, they knew about it, and minutes later the power came back on. I quickly boiled some water, filled the hot water bottles, and escaped to bed to read for a while. Thankfully, the power stayed on though I was reminded of the 1980’s when power cuts were frequent, and unemployment was high. We’ve had so many power cuts since moving here, way more than we experienced living in Wales.

This month, I’ll have worked an extra 17 hours, and we still have a way to go before January ends. I was hoping to add to the treasure chest, though as posted previously, I’ve needed to buy a monitor and keyboard. I popped to the discount store after work, bought some good priced chicken, and a treat – a Portuguese custard tart (Man, I love these) - and returned to the Lifeboat, only for it to be as dead as a doornail. Daft expression! I turned the key a few times, zip. Nada. Nothing. Thankfully, I’m a member of a breakdown service so I called them and was told that due to the virus (what doesn’t it affect!) I could be left waiting up to 3 hours. I phoned home to advise that I could be very late. Within 15 minutes, the breakdown guy was there. I was impressed! He ran some diagnostics and declared the battery – as I suspected – needed replacing. He thinks it’s the original battery and I can’t recall if I ever had a new one. He had one onboard, and set to, replacing it. He also reset the car clock, and the radio pre-sets. What service! This was an unexpected, and unwanted bill, so even with all my overtime, I very much doubt the treasure chest will be added to now.

I checked my lifeboat’s service history and noted with some dismay that it didn’t have a service in 2020. Mind you, money was pretty tight. So, I’ve booked it in for a service in February when I’m off for a week. That way, if parts are needed, or anything is amiss, I won’t miss any work, hopefully. So, excitement here lol.

Also, plenty more snow, copious amounts of ice, and freezing temperatures. After waiting for the breakdown man, it took me hours to warm up again. Oh, I note with some dismay that we’re now on an Active Amber Warning for snow. Hate the stuff! Hopefully It won’t come to much as I really need the overtime for Monday that I agreed to. I’m done with excitement now. Can I be bored? Please? lol

Anyway, take care, be safe, keep warm and mind out for ice if out and about.