Monday 12th September, 2016                     1300

One day soon I really hope to be able to make a joyous entry, if only to stop hordes of my readers from throwing themselves off bridges or slitting their throats! The trouble with me is that, unlike these Instagram “stars” who airbrush their photos and portray an idyllic and wealthy lifestyle full of inner happiness (when the whole show is false), I am telling it like it is! And it isn’t that good of late so don’t dismantle the scaffold just yet.

Before I went out shopping I went to view the last of the boxes, in the vain hope of having them delivered there and then. No chance. Our road was at a standstill and despite not long afterwards my walking the length of it to get to the BRT, I still have no idea what caused it. Sure, there are major roadworks and aside from the odd imbecile who actually parks in the road, there is enough room to get two cars through.

It was plain that it would be a while before the boxes could be delivered to me, so I moved one of them and was greeted by the tinkling of glass. I cut it open and wondered if there may just be a God after all, for it was one of the saucepan lids as I had hoped. Having been told only one box was thus, I eagerly opened the second, in which my oven and bread maker had to be. I had noticed the company had opened my boxes and repacked them because things such as coats I used as padding for fragile items were instead “protecting” books and sturdy things.

To be fair, they had put polystyrene around the oven where I had used coats but nonetheless there it was, dented and forlorn and with no door. That had emulated a car windscreen in an M1 pile-up.

Just to complete my day, I noticed the bread maker is missing, as is the large container in which I packed all my kitchen utensils, some of which were bought in the UK. I would say I am looking at in excess of 2,000y to get back to where I started and what are the chances of that happening?

Anyway I did go shopping and afterwards went for a hotdog at Buddy’s. Stone me if since last night he hadn’t got beer in, so I had a bottle of some German stuff at 6.5%. I guessed that as it was a smallish bottle it might set me back 15y but hell, when I got the bill it was 31y!!! It makes the wine in Homwo look positively cheap! Could it get any worse?

Well, funny I should say that, when I got home I spotted a missed call from my man in the Hilton. He called again from Heidi’s in Shenyang where the usual suspects were winding down (or up, depending on your perspective) following their customary thousand mile Sunday bike ride. I am not sure whether the largesse that followed was a result of alcohol intake or indeed as he professed, so that he doesn’t top himself after reading all the delightful things happening in my life at present.

He is very, very kindly going to despatch an Oxfam relief parcel of cheese, pasta and instacure for making my own ham! Thank you very much Steve, the good news is that I actually have big enough saucepans in which to make my ham - although I know not yet if I have lids to cover them! The bad news is that I can’t make bread for cheese sandwiches….

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At school this morning Janet gave me a moon cake and I had a choice of four teachers day gifts from the school. An egg boiler, yoghurt maker, saucepan or something else which was of no use to me. I opted for the pan, you can never have enough of those.

On my return home my internet was down. I have no idea why but I think I need to log in and I have no clue as to what to do or what my passcodes are. Great. I also haven’t been paid yet. There is one plus though, an additional box has turned up, this was at the back of my mind seeing as they had repacked everything and some of my boxes were huge. Hopefully it will contain my bread maker and utensils, then really the only thing of note to cry about is the oven. Once I actually get paid I can squeeze the money for a new one, a cheapo is about 300y but I have seen a nice big German one for 500y with an extras pack for another 90y. It will mean tightening my belt for this month unless the delivery firm cough up but I really do need an oven.  

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Not one but TWO extra boxes arrived, an intact bread maker and all my utensils. Still no internet and probably won’t be until tomorrow but at least it’s not just me, it is the entire campus. Doesn’t make me feel happier, however it does stop me getting annoyed if I am the only one and they haven’t been to fix it!

So I actually cooked tonight, chilli/thyme pork mince and veg with mashed potatoes. I thought I had overdone the thyme but nope, it was lovely and there’s enough for four more meals in the freezer.

Now, which of the films on my laptop that I have seen a dozen times shall I watch to pass the rest of the night away…………