Of Cookers, Concerts, Alexa, And More

We have a working cooker!

I repeat: we have a working cooker!

Yes, you read that right. The hob part of the cooker has FINALLY been replaced!

The guy came to sort it on October 4th. That's two months after the cooker stopped working. Yeah, you read that right: two months! It took them two months to get us a properly functioning cooker again! *shakes head in disbelief*

OK, so we'd had the oven working for almost all that time, and the electrician repair guy does have a load of other jobs he's been asked to do for their dozens of properties, but still... It shouldn't have taken that long. At least it's done now, I suppose. Let's just focus on that fact.

I was starting to think I'd be telling you we still had the pieces of the cooker in our living room, since he was meant to send someone over on the Monday to pick up the parts of the cooker - yes, we still had the oven part after all this time - and take them to where they can be properly disposed of. Nobody came on the Monday, but someone did show up without any warning on Thursday. I was a little irritated that they just showed up without checking we'd be available. But at least the pieces of cooker are no longer cluttering up our living room.

Shame the skylight still isn't fixed... *sigh*

The other repair guy has been downstairs doing some work in that property, but we haven't seen anyone else. Heard plenty from the guy doing the jobs downstairs though, which has had Lilie and Logan agitated and barking a lot during the past week, since things have been quiet down there for so long, and now there's a lot of bumps and bangs going on down there. I don't actually know what they're doing beyond, "Repair work," since we didn't ask. Don't mind what they're doing really. It's only noisy down there during the day, nobody's hastling us, it wouldn't bother us at all if it wasn't for how it agitates Lilie and Logan, and it's nice someone's getting their repair work done, even if it's a shame it's not us getting ours all done. So I'm not complaining about it. Though I do admit to groaning out loud when I realized he was there again yesterday, and will very likely be down there doing work again all this week.

But my only actual complaints are that it took so long for the cooker to be sorted, and the skylight still isn't fixed, despite the closeness of Winter, and rough weather already showing up regularly. We have had some nice weather days, but we've had more damp and drizzly days than anything, and several with storms. Though only mild storms so far this month. Some of the winds have been fairly strong and rather chilly though. We could really do with that skylight fixed, like yesterday. Wish us luck in trying to get them to sort that next.

Anyway, as I'm sure you can imagine, it's great being able to cook what I want now, instead of having to plan my meals based on what can be made with the oven, slow cooker, or microwave. Makes cooking things like tofu and jackfruit easier for a start. So at least that's one good thing.

I've got other good things to mention too: I had a birthday present that managed to be both early and late at the same time, plus an early Christmas present as well. Yeah, I know we haven't even had Halloween yet, and some of you aren't ready to hear the "C" word already. But never mind.

"How does something manage to be both early and late at the same time?" I hear you ask.

Well, it's quite simple. You see, my birthday isn't until next month, but I already have the gift, which makes it early. Except, it can't be used until next year. December 1st 2020, to be exact, which makes it a late birthday present.

So, what is it?

There's a bit of a clue in the post title. Yes... It's concert tickets.

Tickets to see Jason Donovan at the White Rock theatre in Hastings, to be exact.

I don't go to concerts much... I've been to about three in my life. Steps, LeAnn Rimes, and Boyzone. Oh, and I went to Party In The Park once. But I've been a fan of Jason Donovan since I was a child, and when I heard he was coming to Hastings, I told Kelly and my Mam that I really wanted to go see him. I mean, it's practically just up the road from me that he'll be performing... How could I miss out on that opportunity?

Kelly was going to buy the ticket for me as an early Christmas present, but my Mam offered to buy it for me for my birthday instead. I accepted the offer, and she's the one who'll be coming with me, which is great, because she's a fan of his too, and it leaves Kelly free to stay home with Lilie and Logan. He'll be puppy-sitting for Mam as well.

The theatre does a free companion ticket to people like me who have a disability requiring them to have someone with them for them to be able to attend. All I had to do was take - or have someone take - a certain document to them to get the free companion ticket. This was easy to do, especially with us living close by, so Kelly took it to them the day after I reserved our tickets, and paid for them while he was there. I was impressed with the fact it was such an easy and smoothe process, as well as the fact the person Kelly dealt with had paid enough attention to our phone conversation that she remembered having spoken to me the day before. I know getting companion tickets can be a headache sometime, so I'm really pleased this wasn't the case for me. Now let's hope the in person experience on the evening of the concert is as pleasant.

Anyway, that's how it's both an early and late birthday present. I already have the tickets, but the show isn't until next year.

As for the early Christmas present: that was from Mam too., It's Alexa, AKA the Amazon Echo Dot.

Since I have Amazon Prime, I was telling Mam I'd like to get one, so I can listen to music in the mornings while sorting stuff in the kitchen, or playing with the dogs. Or I can use her to listen to a book. Mainly I've been listening to music with her though. She's already figured out I'm a country music fan, and will pick country music nine times out of ten if I just tell her to play music without specifying a genre, band, or song title. *wink*

Oh, and speaking of birthdays and things like that...

Our remaining chinchilla, Mollie, turned four on the weekend. Her 4th birthday was Saturday (October 12th). I'll let her tell you herself what she got for her birthday soon. For now though, I just wanted to say... Happy birthday, Miss Mollie!