Day Three; Need to do some serious housework

Just back from Logical's annual "away day". The company is an events management and "communication" company. Everyone was really up for it, and there were company games, lots of inspiring speeches from the Directors (who promised to "listen"), and several hours in the company of Twin bum, who I've decided to rename AH. Make your own mind up what AH stands for. The event was horrible, horrible, horrible. Let cats out as soon as I got home. Both ran away, and have just been returned by Steven And Charlotte, after I'd looked for them twice and nearly given them up for the night.

Renovating the Summer Away

Halifax had a rare "heat wave." 25C+ every day for two whole weeks. Normally, Carl and I would have used this opportunity to bask and play. Instead, however, we foolishly embarked on a "1-day" renovation that took many more days than that.

We were stuck working in two small, hot, sweaty bedrooms while the last of the Halifax summer blazed outside our windows.

But at least Cloaky helped make things go smoother by staying out of trouble while all of our bedroom contents were piled up in the dining room...

Diary while Nel's in Canada ; Day Two

Tosh slept on my head last night. Calli has gone into inscrutably annoyed phase and appears round the house in weird places glaring at me, surprising me every time. Got promoted at work without being consulted, and made a train-buddy. British Postal Service on strike again. Still working on the tax form.

Diary: Nel's away for 3 weeks.

Night one:

Toshack runs away and plays hide and seek in yard until 12.45am. Calli gets overexcited and yacks up in the bedroom. Martin eats two steak and kidney pies , attempts Capital Gains Tax form for house sale. Gives up and waters tomatoes. Resolves to write Steven a note apologizing for mess.(nota bene: Nel left the house in tip-top condition less tha 24 hours ago and it nowe looks as if a bomb has gone off).

Cater means four

Joey Mac was giving me directions to a Pool Hall in Halifax. "You go down Spring Garden Road to the Royal Bank, and Planet Pool is right there, kitty corner to the Royal Bank". I had no idead what he was talking about. I knew where Spring Garden Road was, also the location of the Royal Bank, as they serviced our increasing debts. Then I imagined the polydactyl toed cat Minch exiting the Royal Bank, (having satisfactorily resolved her temporary financial glitch with the bank manager). Where would she go? My experience of cats is if it was quiet on the street, she's probably stand still, twitch her tail, lick her bum, then stalk off in search of food. But which direction?

The problem is, Canadians use "kitty corner" as if it is as self explanatory as "up" or "down". Later, I found out that "kitty corner" means "diagonally opposite". I tried observing many cats, both in motion, and in stasis, and also tried measuring them to ascertain where the phrase came from, but observation failed as no cat walks in a straight line anywhere, and as for cats having corners, I tried, but could not find one.

I suppose the obvious solution would have been to Google the phrase, but I've studiously avoided doing that, as I think every language should have its mysteries. My mother's own wierd mix of English, Scouse and Irish includes the healthy use of phrases, usually directed at me, such as "You spend money like a man with no arms", or "You look like the Wreck of the Hesperus", or the classic "You can't go out looking like that - tu'penny head and farthing tail, people will think you were dragged up on the Dock Road". Strangely, I usually understood what she was talking about, but kitty corner has eluded me until now. At last, reading a book(a very silly crap book about the SAS or murders or something), the origin of the phrase was explained. Kitty corner is simply a derivative of the phrase cater corner. Cater was Old English for "four", or "quarter", and cater corner was used to describe diagonally opposite points of squares.

Solving this problem though, and admitting that there is a logical explanation for kitty corner though, is one thing. It does not however, excuse the phrase "in behind".

Moulin Rouge

Congrats on the house. New there had to be some others in Halifax to see its potential (despite its beigeness). A
few pics of our new place. For every wall that goes beige, a new red one is born to take its place.

Postings

If anyone has anything interesting to write, please fill a page or so over the next week. I've been incredibly busy since getting back from NS, and while Transpennine Express have continued to blight my life, Jobcentre Plus are still threatening to suspend the dole I never recieved and have not claimed for for over three months now, and while Twinbum continues to be incredibly annoying, Tosh continues to catch frogs and Nel is off to Ontario, I have'nt the time to write just now, despite our life continuing to verge on the ludicrous.

Hopefully postings will resume with an approximate twice a week frequency towards the end of this week.

Oh yeah, we sold our house in NS (fingers crossed)