My Life That Happened In #18 Part 2
Episode #18 PT1
… March 2025
Tuesday 11th
The holiday mix-up is sorted, and all my holidays have been fixed until the new ones start again. I spoke to a manager about helping an ex-work colleague get a job. Hopefully, I haven’t screwed it up for him.
My head is still not fully healed, and my eye is playing up, so I put on the emergency green bucket hat I store in my pouch. I still need more time to recover, but that will have to wait.
The wife is not happy. She has been waiting for a delivery, and they say they have tried twice to deliver. I call bull. So we go to the post office only to find it closed. How is anyone supposed to pick up their property when they don’t want to help the public?
Friday 14th
At work this morning, I kept an eye out for an ex-work colleague from my previous job who was coming for an interview I helped him with. It seemed to have gone well, but I have advised him to try for another position to cover himself.
I also had some more training. We had a trainer come to the warehouse to officially train whoever wanted to be trained on how to use the baler. I saw this as a way to ensure I was covered in an accident. I already knew how to do it, but I needed the official training to make me feel better. Plus, as I was told I wasn’t going to get a certificate, I was happy to find out they were wrong.
Saturday 15th
Today has been a long and expensive day. It is something I have wanted to do for a long time. Last year, me and my brother visited this place and after three hours of waiting we went home, without even walking through the front door. Today, that will not happen.
This was going to happen with us arriving an hour before it opened. It all started with us waking up late and not being able to have breakfast. We got in the car and went to pick up my brother, and then an hour later, we arrived at our destination. This also includes going the wrong way.
Book 66
This warehouse in Hemel Hempstead opens to the public once or twice a month on the weekend and sells old stock for 70% off retail price. What I did not expect was to go in nearly straight away. The warehouse was supposed to open at 9 am. We arrived just after 8 and we walked into a tented area and were spoken to about the rules. And then let in.
I also had a side quest. A colleague from work needed some books for his kids for school. So I said I would keep an eye out. I printed off the photo he sent me and involved the missus and brother in the search. Sadly, we couldn’t find any on the list.
After four hours of walking down narrow aisles, getting in everyone’s way but being incredibly polite about everything. The wife succeeded in preventing an attack from happening. The warehouse has about fifteen thousand books to walk through. And if you are a little claustrophobic, you may be affected. I am sure some of the aisles are not, or just within health and safety regulations. Those aisles are tight.
The warehouse is set up in categories, not by the author, so you will have to check all the books as you walk along. I found a lot of books, and the wife, who didn’t know why she was being dragged along, suddenly had a full basket and was helping to fill up a third basket I needed that I had found abandoned.
Our Bounty
We had a good time finding things to put in our shopping baskets. But then we found out how much we spent, and we all had the “How much?” moment. They tell you how much you have spent before and after the discount.
The wife selection plus a little blue book is on the top left. She didn’t know she bought it for me.
More of the wife’s stuff that, for some reason, I paid for.
The books I bought for me.
We also got a couple of bookmarks for this year’s future open days.
One surprise was to find a special edition first print and a hardback copy of Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys. This book could be worth about 250 quid, but I didn’t care about that. I am just glad to have another first edition added to my collection.
We finally left and made our way home, stopping at a motorway service and spending a stupid amount of money on food. I could have driven home and had something there, but I was feeling tired, and I wasn’t going to risk it.
Arriving home, we relaxed for the rest of the day until I decided to write this blog. I will go to bed soon.
Monday 17th
The wife spoke yesterday about working in a garden centre or somewhere with plants. I had a quick look and found no job vacancies nearby.
As I got to work, the wife texted me. She was trying to apply for a position at mine. But when I tried when I got home, later that morning, it turned out that she had run out of time, and the position was removed from the site.
I spoke to a manager about the plant section in the workplace. How would my wife apply for a position? He said he would reach out to someone and see what they say.
Tuesday 18th
And another night at work. I spoke to another manager. I tried to be cheeky and see if I could sneak the wife into the position she wanted to apply for. Sadly, it didn’t work. I am still waiting for an answer for the other position, but that manager wasn’t in today.
I uploaded my book report today. It has been a while since I wrote it, and now I have to start a new one. But for now, it’s off to bed. Right after I hang my clothes up.
But Friday 21st
It’s my day off. Only one day. So I spent it as I would a normal day at work, meaning I was up all night and went to bed in the afternoon.
I didn’t sleep well while trying out a new mouthguard. I didn’t like it.
Saturday 22nd
After finishing work, I got home, changed, and took my wife to work. As it was the start of my holiday, I treated us to a Greggs. We sat down and ate, and then I had an itch. And we popped into Waterstones. I shouldn’t have done that after the amount I had spent recently, but my wifey made me remember I could use the tokens I had built up to get a nearly free book.
So I bought a book I needed for my Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. I needed book four. In total, including the bag, I spent £1.24. The wife however spent nearly thirty quid on a comic book adaption of Kikis Delivery Service and a Totoro bookmark.
I left my wife and went home to relax. A little later, I began packing just before I went to bed. I should put everything in a suitcase, but instead, I have several bags piling up, not including the wife’s stuff.
Sunday 23rd
Happy Birthday to me!
I am tired. I didn’t get much sleep, and we have a semi-busy day today. We had to finish packing and get ready to leave.
I also have to upload my latest video for tomorrow. And take a copy so I can finish the rest at our holiday destination.
As the time comes closer to leaving, I am getting triggered by the missus, and we are bouncing off each other, making our heads worse. Until we make a final decision and walk out the door, it won’t fade. So around 1 pm, we fill Ne Ne with our belongings and head out. I told our host we would arrive around 2.30 pm, but of course, that wasn’t going to happen as we arrived just before three.
A Cabin in the Woods
We are in the middle of nowhere. Where the roads are single lane and the council probably doesn’t know they exist with the condition of them. This is going to prove my argument of why I don’t like to travel. But some of the travel was nice as we spent a portion of the journey driving through the forest.
But anyway, I have booked us into a literal cabin in the woods. An area called Shere at a place called Lockhurst Hatch Farm hosted by a lovely lady named Gill. It was supposed to be an hour or so away, but it took nearly two due to my navigation skills, even with a sat nav. One warning I must add is to watch out where you end up. There are dead zones everywhere for mobile devices. I had to drive away from places to get a signal to continue our journey.
The place we are staying has three cabins of different sizes. We chose the one that appealed to us more. This was through Airbnb. One that actually looked like something out of a horror film. And yes, every time I mentioned this place we were going to. Their first response was something to do with a slasher movie.
The whole point of this trip is not to go anywhere. I know we could have stayed at home and done the same thing. But here we can stay put and feel we have gone somewhere. Besides, the place looks a hell of a lot better than where we live at the moment.
The Cabin Five Pines
Gill arrived just after we parked and helped us with some of our bags. She showed us the cabin, and it’s better than the photos. Even though it’s thirty seconds and you’re connected back to the rest of the farm. The trees make you feel isolated from everything else. This is awesome.
Gill asked us what we were here to do. And I said to relax and maybe visit the village. I don’t know if she was disappointed or not. Maybe she was expecting a more outgoing couple. I am sorry to say we are lazy and we enjoy as little movement as possible. Not saying when needed we do what is necessary but when not don’t expect much life from us.
I did try to post a photo. But the reception was bad, and after a couple of attempts, I gave up.
Provisions
This is what annoyed me the most about our holiday so far. What should have been a half-hour journey, tops, turned into nearly a two-hour trip. Google Maps didn’t like this area and sent us on a 10-mile trip, which should have been a 2.4-mile journey, and yes, some of it was my error. But I also think this might be due to some of the farm roads as they take up most of the travel. Each farm road is maybe two miles long before you hit a main road.
All we wanted was to buy some foodstuff, and as it was my birthday, I wanted Chinese food for dinner.
After circling several times and witnessing several car crash aftermaths. One that all services were in the middle of attending. We found a shop and bought some food. We then found a Chinese shop close by that would only take cash. So we had to find a cash machine. We took a little stroll to the nearest Co-op while they cooked our food.
Arriving back at our cabin, I put the food away while the wife sorted herself out, and eventually, we sat down together and ate our dinner. It was okay, but my head was so tired that I barely registered it. So, in the end, I went to bed at about 8 pm.
Monday 24th
I woke up early today about 4.30 am and after a couple of trips to the toilet, I thought screw it and I was up. So, I decided to write this blog. It’s around 6 am at the moment, and I am trying to justify why I am up.
This is the first proper run of my new travel laptop, and I am enjoying it so far. I was sorry to let go of my old one. I still have it at home. But this new one is smoother and a hell of a lot faster.
Managed to upload a holiday “Morning” social post.
I continued writing some more while having some of last night’s dinner. I hadn’t touched my pork balls yet, so I dipped them in curry sauce with a cup of tea. They weren’t bad, cold and fatty. But not bad.
I opened the front door, it could split in two. A little chilly but nice, I put on some shoes and got back to it.
It’s time to get on with what I wanted to do on this trip: read. I go outside and finish this book with another cup of tea.
Bugs…
Five seconds later… That was put on hold. The wife’s awake, and she isn’t happy. Last night, she found a dead bug in the bed, and it’s been bothering her. She went for advice on a Facebook page. And on top of all that, she had a migraine, and it would take a while to get her into a position to be comfortable enough to listen to my suggestions. My tea was cold. She had something to eat while I headed outside with a new cup of tea and finished my book.
I brought a selection of books to read. Knowing I won’t read them all. I still like to have a choice if I change my mind.
I returned with my finished book and chose my next read. But before I start reading, I have to write in my new book review journal I bought from Book 66. I like this notebook as I can put my thinking on the page and have it close by, instead of waiting to find my computer.
A little while later, we both felt the need and decided to go for a nap and arose a couple of hours later.
I don’t know how long the DVD player has worked, but I had to blow and reinsert the SCART lead to get the sound to work. It has also been a while since I have used a SCART lead. The wife brought her Nurse Jackie box set. She sat down, relaxed and watched. I provided a drink and fixed the DVD player.
We ended the evening by not ordering a pizza but cooking up some of the provisions we bought and just some more reading my book before going to bed around 9. I know party animals, right?
Tuesday 25th
We woke up around 5 am and, after a while, got up and had some food. I needed to finish my latest Book Report. I was a little behind, but I had written in my notebook to provide some extra ideas.
It was brought up that the missus wanted to have a travel laptop of her own, as we had to take turns using my travel laptop, and I may have a solution. I will need to update and fix one I bought a few years ago that may help.
The wife went back to bed for a little while after doing the washing up. She didn’t like the idea of it piling up.
We still technically haven’t left the cabin yet. But at some point, I would like to have a little walk around the area. Maybe later. There is no rush. Time for some wrestling (WWE Raw) and reading my book. I am only fifty pages in, and I am enjoying it. I might have to see what else the author has written. And I am determined to collect hardback editions of the Firefly series.
Going Outside
We were about to have a quick walk around the cabin and at the front of the farm when we had a visitor.
After the deer had walked away, we went for a short walk around where we were staying.
We weren’t gone for long, and when we came back, we continued with our relaxing. The wife went off for a shower, and I continued looking for a takeaway that would deliver to the farm. In the end, I went with Perfect Pizza.
The wife went into panic mode because the heater in the bathroom wasn’t heating up. This triggered me, and so after I bought our dinner, I went outside and spent some time with the local cat. She liked to be fussed. When she had had enough, I read my book and waited for the delivery.
She wouldn’t take no for an answer.
The pizza was okay, but I did notice that the base wasn’t freshly made. And I wasn’t full from eating a large pizza. Normally, a medium would be enough, but the deal they had made me go for the large. It came with curly fries and garlic bread, which turned into a tiny cheese garlic bread and some chocolate doughnuts that tasted like plastic, but the wife liked them.
I watch a couple of episodes of Reacher and then read a few more chapters before finally going to sleep. The wife joined me a little later.
Wednesday 26th
Woke up early again. I could have stayed in bed, but I felt the need to get up, have a cup of tea and continue with my book. An hour later, I am on the laptop still looking for ways to get free colour swatches.
The wife was up for a second and then went back to bed. I made my way outside. I wasn’t completely back from last night and hoped a little fresh air would help. So I grabbed some biscuits and a cup of tea and read my book on the decking.
A couple of hours later, we were in the kitchen area having something to eat while working out what to do next. I wanted, even if it’s just for one day, to visit the village of Shere for maybe a couple of hours. So that’s the plan. I searched for a parking space and found a car park, then we slowly got ready.
Leaving the Cabin
Around 11 am, we finally left the cabin. We also realised why Gill, our host, may have thought it was weird that we were here to relax as we spotted a couple of hikers coming and going from the farm.
Parking Ne Ne in the Villiage car park which also seems to be used for the local football team. We took a walk around the village of Shere and there is not a lot of it. There are a few shops, and the shops that are there are shops with nick-nacks and one Coop. We found a shop that had nick-nacks but also sold plants. The wife wasn’t impressed; she did find a couple of gems but decided to leave them behind.
Before leaving, we bought more provisions from the Coop, including a couple of cakes, as I didn’t have one for my birthday. They were a Victoria Sponge and a Chocolate sponge with chocolate buttercream.
To the Highstreet
The wife needed to go to a Boots. So the next thing to do was to try and find one. The first attempt didn’t have what she wanted. Next didn’t have it either so we went to Superdrug and although she didn’t find it there we discovered the item she wanted wasn’t exclusive to Boots as she was previously told. I reviewed the ingredients and came up with an alternative, which she did fight me on, but in the end, she slowly understood and reluctantly gave in. Whether she will use the item is another story.
I still hadn’t recovered from the previous night’s triggering, and I knew what might help: a burger. So we searched for Mcdonalds and on the way we found a Wendys. I had never been to one before and still haven’t as the wife couldn’t find a vegetarian burger, as they had run out, so we continued to McDonalds.
Walking back to the car park, we popped into Cex and had a browse at the Blu-rays, DVDs and electronics. I found a few things, but the wife didn’t.
Returning to the cabin. We rested the same as we had been during our stay. The wife watched Nurse Jackie, I watched a couple of Youtube videos, and I continued reading my book until it was time for sleep.
Thursday 27th
I woke up early again with my back hurting, so I got up and started writing again. Apparently, a Yellow fog warning has been issued in the surrey area. So people need to be careful this morning. I don’t have to worry but enjoy the peace and quiet of the forest.
Today is our last day here in the cabin, and tomorrow, we head home. We have to be back in time for the wife’s video call with her psychologist, I am confident we will be back in time if we leave early enough.
The wife came in when I had just started to read, and she banged on the window and suggested that we go plant shopping. After some debating and her checking her bank balance, the answer was no.
So, we are again spending the day together relaxing and prepping for our return home.
Sitting around and relaxing is very tiring.
Friday 28th
Before we left, I took some pictures, which I normally do when we arrive, but also as a security measure for us.
We were completely up around six, and I made sure the wife knew several times that there was no rush and we didn’t need to leave the cabin until nine. So just after nine, we arrived home and unloaded Ne Ne. We had to be home at a certain time because the wife had a video call. The plan was also to go out and visit the garden centre. We also needed to go shopping.
So we stayed at home and ordered a couple of home deliveries.
While the wife had her video call with her psychologist, I visited the local mechanic and booked Ne Ne in for a service, a pre-MOT check to look around and fix any problems. I also needed to get the ECU reset because of the license plate lights. When all that is done, I can then book her in for an MOT.
Coming home, I waited for the missus to end her session, and we ordered our shopping to be delivered tomorrow.
Later, I ordered a takeaway and relaxed until bedtime
Saturday 29th
We aren’t well. I had a headache that turned into a migraine. The wife has come down with some illness. She believes it’s Covid, but we don’t know. We were meant to go to the garden centre today, and the wife had to pick up a parcel. But in the end, she had a nap. She woke up later, much worse, and we waited and took in the shopping when it arrived.
I have been rethinking purchasing a garden lounger to have a cup of tea and read a book outside my window. Being at the cabin made me realise I enjoyed doing that and I think I have found the one I want. I just have to get it. But I will have to buy two, in case the wife would like to join me.
I have finally finished the book I started at the cabin. It is so good I have bought the first book. The book I read was a prequel.
Still in pain, I will go and start reading a new book to help my eyes relax.
Sunday 30th
We aren’t doing anything again today. The wife is still sick. My head isn’t completely healed, but it’s better than yesterday.
I have changed my mind again about the lounger I wanted, but I am aiming to kill two birds with one stone and also save a little bit of money. The wife has said not to bother buying her one, as it’s not very likely that she would use it.
I will be uploading my latest video to various social media, but first, I am in the process of upgrading my office desktop to Windows 11. It’s not supposed to be upgraded due to the TMP not being 2.0. But I have found a workaround, and hopefully, it will work.
I will leave a video below of the process I will be following if you would like to do the same. This is the easiest way I have seen so far, so someone without a lot of knowledge or skill could do this. Click on the YouTube button to find the links to the items you will need to download.
I have also been a little nostalgic and got out my Firefly season 1 Blu-ray box set and started to watch while I had my dinner.
Monday 31st
We have made it to the end of another month. We want to go back to the cabin.
Still resting at home, but the upgrade to my office desktop is taking longer than it should. Because of this, I have had to get my travel laptop out to help me write my blog.
I started to get concerned about a Christmas present my brother got me. The concern being I lost it. Only for the wife to remind me roughly where it was, and I have it back again.
I also made a decision and purchased a new lounger for my reading sessions.
See ya next month!
