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Solid Snowy Saturday Smiles
Dec. 13th, 2008 06:21 pmSunderland 4 WBA 0 Yippee! Our caretaker manager did us proud, putting his own stamp on pre-match preparations and picking Andy Reid who had a hand in three of the goals. Plus he has a great name: Ricky Sbragia. Not easy to make a chant apart from Ricky Sbragia's red and white army.
Secret Santa event last evening a great success. The food and company were excellent and everyone enjoyed their gifts. I got a mini hot water bottle which has a cuddly cover, so it will be nice to snuggle with when I fall prey to the inevitable cold that everyone else has got. I will no doubt succumb for the holidays. I also got a Grow your own Boss thing, which I could barely read because the restaurant lighting was so subdued it might as well not have been on.
Today I got my own laptop. Squeeee! This turned into a bit of an adventure as the one I wanted was a different price on the website. However, I had written down that price on my piece of paper with the model specs on. So the salesman went away and said they would match that price which was £48 cheaper than the price on display in the shop. Score!. However, the couple we were standing beside had just bought the last one in the shop. But, there is another branch in Durham which had 7 in so I did the transaction at Sunderland and arranged to pick it up at Durham on the way home.
That was where the adventure started because by the time I set off it was dark. The Arnison Centre is a nightmare unless you know it. Anyway I managed to find my way there and got to Comet more by divine guidance than wit. By now, the driving rain we have had all day had turned to snow, which was a bit worrying on low ground. Still, into the car park, find spot near the door, get into shop, get laptop, get out. Now came the nightmare: I couldn't find my way out of the car parks. I seemed to drive round in an enormous circle. At one point Sainsbury's wished me goodbye, but I continued around further car parks until I finally saw a road sign. By this time I had had a close encounter with various pedestrians in dark clothing throwing themselves in front of the car; a clash of wing mirrors caused by my trying to avoid some sticky out shopping trolleys, and a false trail when I followed a car who seemed to know what he was doing until he ended up parking.
At last I made it to the road and was fine until I got to a roundabout where I ended up going right instead of straight on. Salvageable I thought, I'll just go via Chester-le-Street and Stanley. A bit shaky along the dual carriageway and snow beginning to lie. However, I soldiered gamely on, growing in confidence as I became more familiar with the roads. Except, as I approached Stanley, fog descended. So now it was snowing heavily, foggy and dazzling as oncoming cars persisted in shining their headlights in my eyes. Suffice it to say, I was glad to see the fog lifting and a service bus in front of me that blocked out lots of headlights.
Snow was worst at No. 1 roundabout and Villa Real. The road was clear by the time I got home after a journey that took 1 and a 1/2 hours instead of the usual 40 minutes. I was very gratedul to find a parking space at home too in case it does continue to be nasty. The laptop is a Toshiba by the way. Now I will have to learn Vista.
Our third visit to the furniture store was finally successful as we got a knockdown price on a very nice leather and poufy ecru cushioned suite I wouldn't mind having myself. So all in all a very good couple of days in spite of the weather.
Secret Santa event last evening a great success. The food and company were excellent and everyone enjoyed their gifts. I got a mini hot water bottle which has a cuddly cover, so it will be nice to snuggle with when I fall prey to the inevitable cold that everyone else has got. I will no doubt succumb for the holidays. I also got a Grow your own Boss thing, which I could barely read because the restaurant lighting was so subdued it might as well not have been on.
Today I got my own laptop. Squeeee! This turned into a bit of an adventure as the one I wanted was a different price on the website. However, I had written down that price on my piece of paper with the model specs on. So the salesman went away and said they would match that price which was £48 cheaper than the price on display in the shop. Score!. However, the couple we were standing beside had just bought the last one in the shop. But, there is another branch in Durham which had 7 in so I did the transaction at Sunderland and arranged to pick it up at Durham on the way home.
That was where the adventure started because by the time I set off it was dark. The Arnison Centre is a nightmare unless you know it. Anyway I managed to find my way there and got to Comet more by divine guidance than wit. By now, the driving rain we have had all day had turned to snow, which was a bit worrying on low ground. Still, into the car park, find spot near the door, get into shop, get laptop, get out. Now came the nightmare: I couldn't find my way out of the car parks. I seemed to drive round in an enormous circle. At one point Sainsbury's wished me goodbye, but I continued around further car parks until I finally saw a road sign. By this time I had had a close encounter with various pedestrians in dark clothing throwing themselves in front of the car; a clash of wing mirrors caused by my trying to avoid some sticky out shopping trolleys, and a false trail when I followed a car who seemed to know what he was doing until he ended up parking.
At last I made it to the road and was fine until I got to a roundabout where I ended up going right instead of straight on. Salvageable I thought, I'll just go via Chester-le-Street and Stanley. A bit shaky along the dual carriageway and snow beginning to lie. However, I soldiered gamely on, growing in confidence as I became more familiar with the roads. Except, as I approached Stanley, fog descended. So now it was snowing heavily, foggy and dazzling as oncoming cars persisted in shining their headlights in my eyes. Suffice it to say, I was glad to see the fog lifting and a service bus in front of me that blocked out lots of headlights.
Snow was worst at No. 1 roundabout and Villa Real. The road was clear by the time I got home after a journey that took 1 and a 1/2 hours instead of the usual 40 minutes. I was very gratedul to find a parking space at home too in case it does continue to be nasty. The laptop is a Toshiba by the way. Now I will have to learn Vista.
Our third visit to the furniture store was finally successful as we got a knockdown price on a very nice leather and poufy ecru cushioned suite I wouldn't mind having myself. So all in all a very good couple of days in spite of the weather.
