Ever since I first became an adult, Christmas has been a huge, artificial obstacle in the middle of the road which has to be reached without leaving any loose ends that cannot be tied until January 3rd, when the vast machine rumbles back into action for another year.
The dogs were my last job of 2023. The night before their installation I parked my ailing car and hastily arranged different methods of transport involving five different people and it all came together very well, but with a little more stress than I would have liked.
I then had the time to ponder a while on what to do about the car. There was so much work to do on it that I decided to scrap it and get another. I was recommended a company which drives all the way from Poole, Dorset with a huge transporter, and actually pays you more than the vehicle is worth to take it away. I could not even give it away in the condition it was in, so I booked it in and signed it off.
At dawn yesterday morning I drove it behind the transporter and it was driven up the extremely steep ramp, strapped on and driven away to Dorset.
With a week to go before running into the huge obstacle and my road tax expiring, I had tied up all the loose ends and felt relaxed enough to allow myself to catch Covid for a second time.
I am so relaxed about it that I would not be too bothered if Christmas is written-off for me by being contagious next week, but I have a feeling that I will not be.
Are you speaking of your Volvo?
ReplyDeleteAny car of any decade and he would have been speaking of his Volvo Britta.
DeleteI once spent a few months with a Renault 4. The technique with those is to leave the accelerator pedal flat on the floor as much as possible.
DeleteI meant the Volvo I saw. :-)
DeleteI think I have had 2 more Volvos after tha one you saw, Britta.
DeleteHow nice that you got rid of your old car so easily and for a good price. Hope you feel better and can have a relaxing holiday!
ReplyDeleteI was astounded at how much money they were willing to give me.
DeleteWhen I read that you caught Covid a second time and are not (!) totally frustrated, I thought of a (German) book I just read anew, ("Miss Kellermann and the Art to Rhapsodise") and when I started I thought: YES! Yes, Yes, Yes!
ReplyDeleteBecause I had forgotten that the female protagonist shares the same phantasies as I: she imagines she is in a sanatorium - "It were the after-effects of a protracted, not further treated nervous breakdown."
For me stress is near to a nervous breakdown - I became wary when suddenly (never before!) I watched a Doctor-TV-show and each time felt a little envy in me and thought: I would like to lie there, and those wonderful ingenious doctors would care for me - and I wouldn't have to do ANYTHING -- what a treat!"
Enjoy your "Me-time" in bed, become healthy in the pace you think right - and indulge in getting spoiled, without having to do or decide anything at all. I which you a good recovery, Tom!
I hate hospitals so much that I would never go into them for years, even to visit a friend. This was due to a childhood trauma.
DeleteI wish you a good recovery.
ReplyDeleteThank you Yael. I am getting better already.
DeleteCovid, what better way to be spending more time with the family.
ReplyDeleteThey will thank me for it.
DeleteAt least you no longer have the worry of the car...enjoy a peaceful recuperation. Not the best reason to have to do that, but a good result.
ReplyDeleteYes, a very good result. I have saved myself about £1500 by getting rid of it.
DeleteWith any luck, you'll be fit as a fiddle for the holiday. Are you seeking Volvo #?
ReplyDeleteYes, I am. This time maybe a 2 litre version. The 2.5 cost about £400 a year in tax alone, and the MPG was awful. Nice engine though.
DeleteI bet you could make a grand story of your adventure of placing the dogs with untrained help and equipment. I hope you tell us.
ReplyDeleteAnd have a happy Christmas.
DeleteIt would be a very short and boring story, Joanne! Have a happy Christmas too.
DeleteIt's so good when things work out isn't it Tom and quite rare !!!! So sorry to hear you have Covid ... hope it's a mild dose and you are back to 100% very soon. Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and wishing you many good times in 2024. Lots of love. XXXX
ReplyDeleteAnd to you Jack@! Loved your card too! One day you might give me your address so I can send you one! XXXX
DeleteYou once showed some of those weird animal Victorian Christmas cards .... the one I sent you was not the same but similar so I thought it was very ' you '. XXXX
DeleteGreat news about the car but sorry you are poorly. It's a good excuse for a quiet Christmas though.
ReplyDeleteIt is a very mild dose. Perfect timing too.
DeleteHere, you can haul it to the scrap yard. They will pay you (last I knew) $350 for it. There are people who make a living off of doing just that: Buying junk cars, paying someone say, $200, hauling the vehicle away, cutting off the catalytic converter, and then hauling the car off to the junkyard, where they are paid $350 for the car. When they get a dozen catalytic converters, they can haul them to the same scrap yard and make a couple thousand dollars or more.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever complimented anyone on the timing of covid before...
Merry Christmas to you and yours. I hope you find the perfect car.
You can do that here too but they don't like it if you remove anything before. Happy Christmas to you too.
DeleteI hope the second lot of Covid is a mild bout, but putting your feet up over Xmas is a plus I suppose. As for cars, I remember we had a Renault from the other side of Devizes. The garage was in the middle of nowhere and we had to wait to have it mended. Have a Happy Christmas.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was a mild bout. A 'Renault from the other side of Devizes' sounds like a science fiction book.
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