Week of 25th December, 2027

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Monday, 25th December

Christmas Day

Compliments of the season to everyone who reads these pages, all <x> of you (for <x> small)

So everyone is here, and there are already disputes about music - Jane is in the kitchen, with Liz, streaming Christmas music from iTunes, and Katy and Jenny are laying the dining table, with Michael Bublé streaming from Apple Music. Jenny has vetoed Christmas music anywhere near her, after being inflicted with it at the shop, all day. No-one is listening to me, of course. At least the food will be good.

Note: the above is the only concession I will make to Michael Bublé - I'll spell his name correctly, but I will not, willingly, listen to his music. I may not get the choice, of course.

Later: We didn't have music with the meal, so I was spared aural pain. We don't do the traditional turkey roast at Christmas, so this year was a roast of beef, beautifully tender, with assorted vegetables - preceded by seafood and cocktail-style nibbles.

Then we took a break, and opened presents. I got a new dressing gown (my old towelling one is very old and decrepit, not to mention threadbare) a couple of lots of craft beer, some of which I'd never heard of, and a bottle of 12-year-old Glenfiddich single malt Scotch, all of which will go down a treat.

Everyone else got lots of parcels to unwrap, especially Jane. Not me, I'm notoriously difficult to buy for - most of my wants are Men's Toys, so much more expensive than the boy's variety, so I tend to not get given those. Besides, they're all more than somewhat esoteric, so there's a risk of getting the wrong thing. Better to not try.

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Tuesday, 26th December

Boxing Day, or the Feast of St. Stephen

Another quiet day, except for the big lunchtime blowout. So nothing of note to comment about, except that I took Liz home in the evening.

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Wednesday, 27th December

Jane and Sarah have left for the USA - Boston and New York, I think. They'll be back on New Year's Day - probably an overnight red-eye.

The outbound flight was Virgin VS3, ex LHR at 08:50, and Katy did chauffeuse duty, so I didn't get disturbed. And the return flight is confirmed as Virgin VS138, arriving LHR at 07:00, ex JFK. But they will return home from the airport by Tube and bus.

While they're away, I'll have to feed the cats and water the plants. Not a big problem, provided I remember.

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Thursday, 28th December

Freelance at former $EMPLOYER today, a day shift. And it will be a quiet day - there are no feeds. Must submit invoice - before Jan 10th, or I won't get paid while the end of February.

And that's done.

Katy called me a couple of times while I was at freelance, about oil levels in Sarah's car, which she's using while Sarah is in the States. Apparently, the low oil pressure light has come on, and she sounded a little put out that I couldn't drop everything to fix it. But I gave her advice about where the filler cap is, and "don't put more than a half-litre in at a time, without dipping first. Repeat as required." The oil capacity of that engine is 3.5 litres. After that, all went quiet.

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Friday, 29th December

I'm expecting Katy to arrive for help with the oil level in Sarah's car, but I can't wait in until she deigns to pitch up. I have things to do, out of the house. So we agreed, by WhatsApp, that she wouldn't arrive until the afternoon, or else that I would advise remotely - she will send pictures, I will point to correct thing. Mem: must give her the tyre pressure gauge I bought as a present, and failed to wrap for Christmas. I got one for me, as well. Must put that in Ulysses, and buy another electric tyre inflator. I currently have two, one is inaccessible in store, the other is an integral part of a jump-starter accessory, which has a dead battery. Multi-function devices like this are not good - you have to throw away everything, if one part breaks. Better have separates.

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Saturday, 30th December

So yesterday I ordered a Ring air compressor from Amazon. This one is at the low end of the price spectrum, at UKP10.99 - they run up to UKP30-odd, which seems excessive, unless you're going to be using it all day, every day. I won't be, so cheaper is better. Prime delivery today, according to the "Out for delivery" e-mail, before 8pm, which basically nails me to the house until the Amazon minion pitches up.

Well, it wasn't that bad. Mr Amazon arrived at about 2pm, with 2 parcels, my air compressor, and something for Jenny. So I sent her a notification text, and wandered off to the shops - via a local charity shop, where I donated a bag of surplus things. Since I'm registered there for Gift Aid,  the shop can reclaim basic rate tax on the proceeds. Every little helps.

I'm wondering if anyone makes a USB-C PD to EIAJ coaxial power adaptor, to replace a standard laptop power brick, and save me weight. I suspect not, although the reverse would be good, too - 19 volt EIAJ coaxial to USB-C PD. This will become more important when the Zendure USB-C battery and mains charger arrive. Talking of which...

<pause>

I've suggested that to Zendure, as a future project.

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Sunday, 31st December

New Year's Eve

Jane placed an order for a grocery delivery, I suspect via the Web from oversea, and Katy added to it. The delivery driver just pitched up, with 5 crates, each containing 3 carrier bags. That's a big order, it's normally no more than 3 crates. And, before you ask, the crates go back on the van for re-use, and the carrier bags are recyclable.

 
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