AS GOOD AS IT GETS PHASE DAY 265

DVT DAY 280

A.G.A.I.G DAY 265

Sunday after a night in the spare bed as I was having trouble sleeping, I get set to install the replacement microwave. I sort the tools I need, to wit one screwdriver. The new one is unpackaged and checked for damage. No damage. I unplug the old one from its socket that is above the shelf above the microwave. The only way to get it out is to unwire the plug because the shelve cannot be taken out without dismantling one end of the kitchen units. It works, the cable pulls thorough and the old microwave slides neatly out of its nest. I was hoping that I could unwire the new plug and then rewire it through a small hole in the shelf which I intended to drill. The new plug is moulded. Change of plan, a square big enough to take the plug and any future renewals. Sounds sensible doesn’t it. So I cut a square by drilling holes and sawing through.

The perfect solution, for a moment I am proud.

Feeling a moment of pride ( I should know better) I thread the new cable through lifting the microwave up to ensure the fixed ended cable threads fully. At this point my day turned to rat shit. The bloody new (identical model of microwave oven) is 3 millimetres too tall to fit the space!!!!!!

3 mm too high for Christ sake is nothing easy

So I get nearly every tool I own out of the garage and set about cutting a slot in the upper shelf in order to get the damn thing in. Jigsaw and drill to the rescue. It takes time to get it set up and completed. Everything has to be cleaned and cleared away before I try to fit the new oven in .

The slot is cut, now the clearing up.

The moment of the truth as I once again thread the plug and cable through the square in the shelf and then slide the oven into the space. Smooth and perfect, it slides in. Three screws later it is firmly fixed in and the facia is clipped in place. I win.

There will be popcorn!

I am knackered from the aggravation, I clear the decks and have a non alcohol beer. I am mildly satisfied but there is more to do, there always is, so I start to help to clear the library and hall way ready for the decorators tomorrow. I also set up my office end of the sofa so that I can attend a day long meeting tomorrow. We have gathered a lot of stuff that is going to be jettisoned so in the morning before decorators adn meeting a Hippobag will need filing. We are getting close to completion but it is always the odds and ends at the finish that take the time and are the most irritating.

So eventually I get to sit down and think about what I am going to present in my 5 minute slot in the meeting tomorrow. Mid way in my thoughts a colleague emails with the 26 slides she intends to present in her slot. I ask you 26! Another colleague WhatsApp me and makes his view clear as well, which he has emailed to our colleague. Already I am absent from the meeting and wondering if the rug I ordered from a dodgy Chinese website will ever turn up.

An evening of His Dark Materials and writing the blog whilst keeping an eye on the football results fills the day.