Weekly Blog - W/E 30th October

The week didn't get off to a great start after a bad day at work on Saturday. As a consequence, I decided to go into work on Sunday afternoon, to finish resolving the issues caused by the till not working properly. I soon regretted it when I got to the bus stop and realised I didn't have my Oyster card with me, so I had to buy another one and top it up to travel. 

I also realised I'd forgotten my house keys too, although this wasn't a big problem.  When the bus came it was very full, which wasn't great and I straight away wished I'd taken my bike, but cycling two days in a row was just too tiring.

When I finally got to work, I think I got everything as resolved as I possibly could in the circumstances. The till was back working, so the day went pretty smoothly. The shop seemed quite quiet on Sunday, compared to weekdays, so I did some different stockroom tasks for a change, as I was only there for a few hours.

I bought a few bits that I'd put aside when I left today, including some new boots for everyday wear for work, a nightdress (new), a plant pot and a book for OH for Xmas. 

When I left work, I headed for the underground to go and meet up with LB and OH at a cinema near Canary Wharf, as we were going to go and watch the new James Bond film. The film was enjoyable, but long. I won't give any spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. It was nice to go out and do something we hadn't done in over 18 months, but I was equally glad to eventually get home and get to bed after a long day.

On Monday, it was good to have a day off. I didn't manage to get booked into my usual Zumba class, as it was full and I'd left it too late. Instead, I walked the dog and then headed off to do the weekly shop at Lidl. The few things I couldn't get there, I got from a nearby Sainsbury's this week.

When I got home, I spent a couple of hours catching up with the ironing. I didn't manage to do it all, but focused mainly on clothes that I needed for work, so that I at least have a choice of outfits once again.

In the evening, I had a shower in readiness for returning to work the next day and then OH and I watched some TV for an hour or two.

Tuesday, I was back at work at 10am instead of my usual 12 noon, to cover the Manager's absence. There were still unresolved problems with the till, but it was working for the most part. I managed to get everything that I needed to do done, despite spending a fair amount of time when I got there, just tidying up the stockroom before starting work. 

I can't stand to work in a mess, it stops me concentrating on what I have to do, as I constantly get distracted and veer off to sort out something that catches my eye. If I get everything tidy before I begin, I can just focus and get my work done, whilst maintaining the tidiness as I go along. I'm quite a stickler for a tidy stockroom, mostly for Health and Safety reasons, but also because that's just how I like to roll.

At the end of the day, I made a couple of stupid errors that I couldn't rectify, but never mind. Sometimes I'm just rushing too much and don't pay enough attention to what I'm doing. I'm human after all.

Wednesday was another day off. I was feeling quite tired, so after walking the dog, I did a bit of laundry and caught up on a few YouTube videos whilst having some lunch. I ended up having a nap for a couple of hours in the afternoon. It felt very indulgent, but was necessary. I think the extra hours I'd worked and all the stress at work had taken their toll on me.

In the evening, we watched a couple of episodes of University Challenge together as a family, which is always fun.

On Thursday, I wasn't due into work until 2pm, so I took my time getting showered and ready in the morning and then took the dog out without having to rush as much as usual. In the end, I set off early though and got there for about 1ish. Today was bitty. The donation cages were virtually empty, so I was able to do I  a bit of this and a bit of that all afternoon. I don't mind this so much, as I get to do things that I don't always have the time for, which makes my work more varied and enjoyable.

It was a busy day in the shop, which was good.  Central London seems to be bustling at the moment, even busier than before the first Lockdown. There are people everywhere, the pavements are full of people going about their business. It's nice to see, but also a bit overwhelming if I'm honest, after the post-Lockdown quiet streets.

When I got home later, I decided to open a bottle of wine and have a glass or two. Just one more day to work this week and it's my Sunday/Monday weekend. I'm definitely looking forward to it this week.

Friday was payday, so I spent some of the morning doing some financial calculations and reconciliations. In the afternoon, I felt like getting out of the house, so I paid a visit to our local Poundland. I'd not been for a few weeks. I bought another pair of black leggings, some food and a couple of other bits and pieces, including some Xmas gifts (chocolate).

I then headed across the way to our local TK Maxx. Despite having ordered some things online last week, I fancied a wander around the shop. I ended up buying two new mugs for me for my morning cup of tea, some Xmas gifts for OH (coffee and coffee beans) and the dog (treats).

Finally, I dropped into ASDA for a few bits of food top up shopping. I also needed some gin, so bought as big a bottle as I could of the basic Asda gin, to last me as long as possible. I also bought a couple of bottles of other spirits for OH and LB as Christmas gifts. So I made a start to the Christmas shopping at least.

When I got home, I bought another gift for OH on eBay. His main gift is going to be some new cycling shoes, which will be very expensive, but it will be a combined Birthday/Xmas gift, as I didn't get him much for his birthday this year. He needs to go to the cycle shop and try them on though and choose a pair, so I'm reliant on him to do that. I probably won't buy him much more now, than the bits I've already bought.

LB is a whole other subject. I think she'll probably want money more than anything this year. We've reduced the number of people we're buying for this year, so I don't have as much Xmas shopping to do, which is good.

Saturday, I was back at work again. I got there at 9.20am, so that I had time to vacuum the shop and stockroom before we open at 10am. I probably won't get another chance to do this until after Xmas now, as I don't start early enough to do it when there's no customers in the shop. I may try to do it once a week after the shop closes, as those dust bunnies grow so quickly.

Anyway, the day was steady. Not as busy as I would like, but pretty uneventful and I managed to get a lot of work done. I went in on the bus today, as it was raining when I set off.  The journey in wasn't so bad, as the bus wasn't that busy, but coming home I had to let 3 or 4 buses go past before one came that had any empty seats. I still really don't like being crammed on public transport when there's so much Covid still around.

Saturday night I just crashed on the sofa.  OH and I watched the last couple of episodes of a documentary series about New Labour, which we've been enjoying.  I've got two days off from tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it, it's been a tough week workwise.

I hope you've had a good week.