mandragora | (no subject)

Let me join in the general squeeing over this week's Doctor Who. Scary and funny and well, the Doctor dances, you know. He really does.

Otherwise, am so very, very tired. This week I have:
Been to court.
Gone away to the Midlands on business for a couple of days.
Attended my great aunt's funeral.
Witnessed a family feud in action at the funeral, in which mother was at the heart.
Driven back from the Midlands in 32C (90F) heat in a car with no air conditioning (found out on journey that air con is broken, will be repaired on Wednesday).
Discovered The Other Side have got leave to appeal in one of my cases from the Court of Appeal (leave was refused at first instance), which has buggered us tactically, and has necessitated much running around, including having to haul leading counsel out of court where he was sitting as a judge to discuss next tactical move.
Suffered the telly in the bedroom breaking down.
Bought a new telly to replace the knackered one, tried to fit it into car, failed, arranged for delivery instead.
Spent an hour and a half trying to unscrew a door-stop to make room to get old TV out and new one into the bedroom, discovered power screwdriver is also knackered, failed to unscrew doorstop.
Cut hand, bruised arms and took chunk out of wall trying to get knackered TV off TV wallstand.
Bribed TV deliveryman to unscrew doorstop (noted with some bitterness that as has bloke's strength he had no difficulty in unscrewing it at all), and put new TV onto wallstand and take old one downstairs.
Dashed out to get electrical extension lead because new TV lead is on other side to old one and TV cord didn't reach plug.
Tried to tune TV in, failed because there is no aerial, only cable box, contacted manufacturer, finally got cable tuned in.
Collapsed onto couch to watch Doctor Who.

The great aunt was a very sweet and lovely person, who was that rare being, a lifelong churchgoer who actually lived by the tenets of the Christian faith, in that she always showed compassion and love and charity to all, and never judged others. She was never prejudiced, about anybody. She died, suddenly, of a heart attack, which is much the best way to go IMO. Her elder sister, my grandmother, is still going strong at the age of 97 and has just had her drivers' licence renewed! (No, I don't know What They Were Thinking, either). So, er, if you're ever down at Land's End in Cornwall you might want to watch out for a little old lady bombing along the lanes.

The funeral was at the family church, which was fitted out by now-deceased family members, and at which one of my great-great grandfathers was the vicar. Went to the family mausoleum, where great-great-great grandparents on down are buried. Great aunt was cremated, though. Before that there was a church service and I was very touched that the church (which is pretty big) was full, of both family and friends. Not bad for a 90 years old woman and a testament to how much she was loved. It's also unusual in Britain to attend a funeral where the vicar actually does know the deceased person, in this case for 27 years. Heathen though I am, I was very touched by the service, possibly because the vicar spoke from the heart.

Anyhow, yes, I shall miss her but, 90 years isn't a bad age and she lived a long, fruitful and mostly happy life in which she raised 2 sons and now has 5 grandchildren who are all doing well. We should all be so lucky.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm sorry about your great-aunt, though, as you say, going quickly of a heart attack after a long and full life is a better way to go than most. I'm extremely sorry you had to drive from the Midlands to London with no AC. You must've been cooked! I'm sorry about your telly and screwdriver woes, although you related them in a very funny fashion. And I'm vowing never to visit Cornwall, for fear of being mown down by a 97-year old lady without much concept of speed limits!

*g* I was cooked. Done to a turn. Actually, it wasn't too bad on the M40, because I could get a breeze going with the windows open, but the traffic once I hit London in the evening rush hour was horrendous. At that point I cooked. *shudders at the memory*

It was the hottest May day for 50 years and the hottest day we'd had since 2003, so I definitely wasn't used to the heat.

Thanks for the sympathy, it's much appreciated.

Screwdriver is definitely knackered and I shall be buying a new one.

Condolences on your great aunt; I'm gla dshe had a good, long life.

Sorry aboutthe AC & telly frustrations. Hope you get a chance to relax this weekend.

Aw, thanks, hon. Also for your comments on your LJ concerning me. Made me all misty eyed. Although, I'm still not all growed up, you know. ;)

My condolences on your great-aunt, but at least she didn't have to go into a nursing home - I just spent the morning in one visiting someone, and while it was one of the nicer homes, it was still a singular depressing experience, shudder.

I so sympathize with you on your Television and AC woes - I almost killed myself last year putting a new TV in my bedroom, and AC's are an absolute must here, where we have 90 Fahrenheit plus from June through October.

I hope you have a chance to take it easy for a while!

Oh God, no, nursing homes are so depressing. My other grandmother always said no nursing home for her, that the only way she was leaving her house was feet first and she got her wish. She was still living there when she died at the age of 99. Good for her!

On the TV front, they look great up on the wall stand, but *getting* them up there? Whole different matter if you don't have a man's strength. Sigh. Mostly I like being a woman. Except when trying to do things like that.

Yes, I can see why you'd *need* AC living somewhere where it's hot regularly. Pity us Brits, we don't have AC in our houses, or in many offices and shops. So when we do get a hot summer (like the one in 2003, which killed 40,000 people in Europe, even in countries where they are geared up for the heat) we suffer bigtime. July and August are forecast to be hot, hot, hot. I have invested in an air cooler, which isn't as good as AC but better than nothing.

That week was crammed with incident - my condolences on your loss, and my sympathies on the family row starting. My family do things like that, too.

Yes, I suspect that the family that doesn't have a feud somewhere doesn't exist. This one is pretty petty, but the more bitter because of it. Sigh.

Thanks for the condolences, much appreciated.

The Doctor dances in an Angel-dancing kind of way? I missed it due to being at a party and then at Southend AirShow and then back here in Germany.

That's been a busy week. Sorry about your great-aunt, but as you say, that's a good way to go!

The Doctor dances in an Angel-dancing kind of way?

Not... exactly. I don't want to spoil it for you but suffice it to say that although dancing means dancing it's pretty clear that it also means, hmm, something else.

Many thanks for the condolences. Sounds like you've been having a pretty busy week yourself.

Oh, BTW, I was wondering if you could help me out with something. If a German man was to exclaim "Shit!" would he say "Die scheisse!" Or something else?

Erm, this is a good one... Nowadays (certainly in the office here) 'Scheisse' is about equivalent to our 'bugger', whereas before it was more like our 'shit'. Now they say 'shit' if they want something stronger.

Ah, don't you love Anglicisation...